Fear of the drive
by esprit en deuil
Summary: When Gibbs and Tony are in a minor accident it has an unexpected affect on Tony. This story is SLASH and contains a Gibbs/Tony pairing.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: my very first fanfic! Yay! I'm Finnish so English isn't my first language and I don't have a BETA so.... Anyways I hope you enjoy! I edited this chapter for the formats sake, but did no other changes.**_

Gibbs had finally done it.

He and Tony were driving to work when they hit a patch of black ice, Gibbs tried to get the car back under control, but with the speed he had been going and the road conditions it was a lost cause. The two men did their best to brace themselves as the car slid off the road and down a small hill.

When the car came to a stop Gibbs pushed the airbag out of the way and after shaking off a bout of dizziness he made his way around the car to check his lover. Upon opening the passenger's side door he saw Tony struggling with his seatbelt. He helped the younger man get the seatbelt of and watched as he turned to sit sideways on the seat, one hand clutching his chest. The older man crouched down in front of the Italian and placed a hand on his shoulder

"Hey, are you okay?"

The younger man answered without hesitation "yeah I'm fine just a few sore ribs. What about you? You okay?"

Gibbs let out a relieved breath and helped Tony up on his feet

"I'm fine, we need to get up on the road"

He kept a hand at the small of his lover's back and steered him up the small hill.

"you know Jeth I've told you that someday we would end up in a ditch the way you drive and lets face it this is pretty close to a ditch right here."

Jethro glared at his now slightly smirking lover as they climbed the hill "my driving isn't that bad, and if it wasn't for the ice we would have been just fine."

Tony just laughed before groaning when his ribs protested the movement "don't make me laugh Jeth it ain't nice"

By the time Gibbs and Tony made it to the side of the road, a car had stopped to help

"Hey you guys okay? Were there anyone else in the car?" the driver asked as he approached the two men.

Gibbs looked at the man "yeah were okay and there's no-one down there"

the man who was in his late forties came to stand in front of the agents and looked them up and down

"that's good, name's bill by the way. You guys are looking a little rough. Maybe you should sit down"

the man's eyes were on Tony, who was looking a little pale. Gibbs saw the look and turned to his second who was starting to sway slightly. Jethro quickly took a hold of the younger man's arm as Bill took the other arm and together they guided Tony to sit on the backseat of Bill's car.

"Tony what's wrong" Jethro asked his lover as they got him sitting down.

"He looks a bit shocky" Bill said as he appeared from behind the trunk with a blanked which he draped over Tony's shoulders

"I think we should get you two to the hospital to get checked out, get in and I'll give you a ride"

Gibbs considered that for a second before nodding gratefully and shutting the car door and climbing in on the other side and sitting beside Tony. Bill went to the drivers seat and started the car, he looked into the mirror and saw the two men sitting on the back seat the other shivering slightly and the other holding his hand. He turned his attention back to the driving and they headed for the nearest hospital.

_**A/N 2 so that's the first chapter. Tell me what you think, I'll post the next chapter as soon as I get it ready... **_


	2. Chapter 2

When the three men arrived to the Hospital Gibbs helped Tony out of the car while Bill stood close by to help if needed. He followed the two agents into the emergency room and watched as Gibbs tried to convince the medical staff that he didn't need checking out and wouldn't leave Tony, who was still pale and shivering on an exam table.

The head nurse was having none of that

"Mr Gibbs you have been in a car accident and for all we know could be suffering from internal injuries. Now please let us check you out. Mr Dinozzo will be in good hands and after you've been checked you can see him"

Bill saw that this Gibbs guy was about to protest not wanting to leave his man alone. So to avoid further confrontation between The man and the nurses he came closer and addressed the other man:

"Mr Gibbs, right?" at Gibbs' inpatient nod he continued "I think you should let the doctor do his thing so that you can get back to Mr Dinozzo, if you'd like i would be more than happy to stay with him so he wouldn't be alone"

Gibbs' eyes narrowed and he studied the man before him. For the first time he really looked at the man and took in his solid tall frame, brown slightly graying hair and kind eyes. He didn't want to leave Tony with this man, but thought that it would be a better option than leaving the young man alone. After all the man had helped them and given them a ride to the hospital and he had a feeling that this man was really just interested in helping them.

"It's just Gibbs and his name is Tony. I won't be long, don't leave him alone"

Gibbs waited 'till Bill nodded his understanding before addressing his lover

"Tony, I'll be right back let the doctors do their job" He pressed a kiss to Tony's temple and frowned when the younger man didn't respond, but allowed the nurse and a doctor to lead him to another cubicle. He hopped on the table and let the doctor get on with the exam.

* * *

Bill watched as Gibbs was led out of the cubicle before turning his attention back to the man sitting on the table with a doctor checking his head and palpating his ribs. Bill had already guessed that there was more between the two men than friendship and he didn't have any problem with that kind of affection between two men.

His thought were interrupted when Tony drew in a sharp breath as the doctor pressed a sore spot on his chest. The Doctor turned to Bill:

"We need to take him to get some x-rays of his ribs. You're welcome to come with us as far as the radiology but there you'll have to stay in the waiting room or you can wait here."

Bill thought about it but decided to wait in the cubicle so that if Gibbs was finished with the exam before Tony returned he could explain the situation to the other man. He settled into a chair to wait either for Gibbs or Tony to returned but secretly he wished that the younger man would return first so he wouldn't have to tell the older man that his lover had been left alone with the medical staff.

When Tony was wheeled back into the cubicle Bill let out a sigh of relief. He was also relieved to see that the man was obviously feeling better, he wasn't as pale as before and he was talking to the nurse that wheeled him in.

"the doctor will be here in a few minutes with the x-rays" with a final smile to Tony the nurse left the two men alone.

"Hi Tony how are you feeling?" Bill asked the other man as he came to stand before him.

Tony looked at the older man with confusion he looked familiar but still Tony couldn't place him

"mm I'm fine. I'm sorry but who are you?"

"I'm sorry, my name is Bill I'm the one who drove you and Gibbs to the hospital and i promised him to stay with you"

At that moment Gibbs walked in and looked at his lover and smiled when he noticed that he was looking much better. Tony looked at his older lover and was about to get up but Gibbs stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"How are you doing Dinozzo?" He asked the younger man.

"'m fine now that I've seen you. What did your doctor say? Are you okay?"

"Nothing wrong with me apart from some bruises. What did the doc say?" The last part of that was directed at Bill who was standing slightly to the side watching the two men interact.

"His doctor should be here soon, they took some x-rays of his chest but otherwise haven't said anything"

They all looked up when the doctor entered the space and went to the light table.

"Hello I'm Mr Dinozzo's doctor Dr Johnson." He turned to the x-rays and pointed out a few spot with his finger.

"The x-rays show slight fractures on three of Mr Dinozzo's ribs, probably from where he was slammed into the seatbelt. There are also some old breaks that have healed well but unfortunately aren't as durable as they used to so that explains why they fractured now. I'll get those wrapped and give you a prescription of painkillers. Other than that there are just some bruises and you'll be sore but in few weeks you'll be as good as new"

He turned off the light table and turned back to the men.

"If you two would leave I'll get Mr Dinozzo's ribs wrapped and you can then take him home.

Bill walked to the door and paused to wait for Gibbs who whispered something to Dinozzo before making his way out to the waiting room.

Gibbs looked at Bill like he just realized that the other man was still there.

"Thank you for helping us today and being with Tony. If you'd give me your contact information you can leave, there is no need for you to waist more of your time in here. If there's some questions for the insurance company we'll call you"

Bill looked at the other man and handed him his business card

"There is no need to thank me, I was just doing what anyone would have done. There are my work and home phone numbers if there is anything just call me."

The two men shook hands and with a nod Bill left the waiting room and headed out to the car park. He sat on a bench and started thinking everything he had heard. He felt the need to stay and make sure that the two men got safely out of the hospital and to their destination. He couldn't explain it but after hearing about the former breaks on Tony's ribs and seeing how controlling Gibbs was he just wanted to make sure that everything was fine.

* * *

By the time Tony made his way out of the cubicle and into the waiting room with his prescription, Gibbs had been joined by Doctor Mallard. Gibbs had called his old friend to come and pick them up and had told the older ME about the accident. Both men looked up when Tony entered the room and Ducky quickly made his way to the young man with Jethro following him.

"Dear boy how are you feeling? Jethro told me about what happened and let me tell you I had a few things to say about his driving. Why I wonder how he hasn't wrecked anymore cars with the way he drives, actually it reminds me of a Nepalese man that I met during my travels. It was most extraordinary how he could wreck over dozen cars and not get a scratch on himself yes, well that was before he drove over a cliff..."

Ducky's ramblings were cut off by Gibbs tersely saying his name. He looked from Jethro's annoyed face to Tony's amused one and turned to take his hat and coat from a nearby chair he'd left them on.

"yes, well perhaps we should get going. I take it you called the team to inform them of your little adventure. And I'm sure that young Abigail will be most distressed until she hears from you."

The three men made their way to the car park where Tony stopped at the sight of the agency sedan Ducky had came to pick them up with and his throat seemed to close when he saw Ducky hand the keys to Gibbs.

Tony pushed down the momentary flash of panic. He wondered where the feeling had come from, he had never felt like that even though Gibbs driving was enough to unsettle anyone even on a good day.

"Hey Dinozzo you coming?" Gibbs yelled when he saw Tony lagging behind.

Tony pushed all his apprehension to the back of his mind and moved to get in the backseat of the car, "You know boss maybe you should let Ducky drive after all I for one would like to stay on the road this time"

Gibbs glared at the younger man "Keep that up Dinozzo and you'll be walking"

Tony held back the retort that maybe it would be safer that way and instead buckled in. He couldn't help grabbing the edge of his seat when the car roared to life and anyone who would have been watching Tony's face when they pulled out of the hospital parking lot, would have seen the flash of panic and fear in his eyes.

And as it so happens, someone was there to see it.

_**A/N So there goes to second chapter yay! I was overwhelmed by the amount of people who reviewed, put this story on alert or PM'd me, thank you to all of you! I had few pointers about the length and format of my chapter and I thank you for pointing those things out and I hope that this chapter was easier to read.**_

_**The next chapter probably won't be up until next weekend (I'll try to get it done sooner but...) yeah, I had this story written in my notebook but for some reason when I started writing it on my computer it got a life of its own so I'll have to rewrite the whole story to accommodate the changes (I'm still wondering where Bill came from...) Hope you're liking the story! **_


	3. Chapter 3

When they left the Hospital parking lot, Tony tried his best to let the sound of one of Ducky's long winded stories wash over him. He pictured them sitting in the bullpen with Ducky telling a tale and the others listening with concealed amusement, and for a few minutes he could almost forget that he was in a car with his boss behind the wheel.

Tony's happy fantasy was soon interrupted however when Jethro ,without slowing down, switched lanes in order to avoid hitting an semi truck.

"For heaven's sake Jethro, are you trying to get us killed? No wonder You two ended up in a ditch!"

The two men were waiting for Dinozzo to say some witty remark, but when no sound came from the back seat Ducky turned to look at the younger man. When he turned he saw Tony looking pale and breathing heavily.

"Anthony? Are you quite alright?"

He placed a hand on the other man's knee to assure that he had his attention.

"Yeah, Ducky I'm fine"

Gibbs watched the exchange but didn't say anything and just watched as His old friend turned back to face the front of the car. He was worried about his lover but for now he was willing to put the feeling aside at least until they'd reach the navy yard and he could talk to the younger man face to face.

Tony was having more and more trouble concentrating. After the near miss with the semi he hadn't been able to immerse himself in his own dream land and he was acutely aware of the speed they were going and the numerous nearly disastrous situations they had luckily been able to avoid. But after a one too many two-wheeled turns by Gibbs he couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop the car Boss!" He knew he was panting but he didn't seem to be able to breathe normally.

Ducky looked back at the younger man's exclamation and upon seeing his distress tried to calm the young man down while Jethro found a place where he could pull over.

"Anthony, listen to me. You have to calm down, try to slow your breathing"

When the car came to a stop Tony was out of the door before neither of the other men could react. Gibbs quickly made his way to his lover who was kneeling beside the car trying to get his erratic breathing under control.

"Tony, come on slow your breathing, c'mon you can do it"

Ducky appeared a few seconds later carrying a glass jar that he held in front of the young man kneeling on the ground.

"Unfortunately I couldn't find a paper bag so this must do. Anthony, breath into the jar for me, that's it slow deep breaths"

Gibbs rubbed Tony's back while Ducky gently coaxed him to get his breathing under control. Slowly Dinozzo started to get back in control and soon he pushed the jar away from his face.

"Thanks Ducky"

"you're most welcome my boy. Now can you tell us what happened?"

"It was nothing, just a little..."

Gibbs cut off Tony's explanation "Nothing my ass! You were hyperventilating, you couldn't breathe properly!"

Tony looked away from the two men and spoke in an hesitant voice, "i just seem to have developed a little... apprehension about your driving s'all"

Gibbs felt like he had been kicked in the gut by the other man's admission.

"You're afraid of my driving?"

The question was followed by an awkward silence which was broken when Ducky helped the youngest man to his feet and ushered the two men into the car.

"Well I think it's best if we continue this conversation later don't you agree Jethro? right now I think that we should get young Anthony here to HQ so that Abigail can ascertain with her own eyes that you two are indeed in one peace and I do believe that Timothy and Caitlin are also waiting for your arrival"

When Tony was once again settled in the car Jethro gave the keys to the older ME.

"I think you should drive Duck, I'll ride in the back with him"

Ducky nodded his approval and climbed into the drivers seat. He turned to check the two men before starting the car. He knew that Jethro would be wallowing in guilt for frightening the young lad and he would have to have a one on one talk with his friend once they reached the navy yard to try to solve this little dilemma.

* * *

The rest of the ride was uneventful. Ducky kept up a constant stream of words, telling of his days as a young med student and of things that had happened to him during his travels.

In the back seat Gibbs held his lover who was leaning against him. Tony felt embarrassed of his new found phobia and the way he had reacted earlier but the constant chatter and Gibbs' presence soothed him and for the rest of the drive he dozed lightly against his lover.

When the car pulled at the parking lot of the Navy yard Tony jerked awake from his doze and the three men got out of the car and headed inside. When they were in the elevator Gibbs turned to Tony.

"Tony go change your clothes and then go see Abby."

"yes boss" Tony smiled shyly at the two men as he exited the elevator as it reached the right floor.

When the two elder men were alone they stayed in silence both lost in thought 'till they reached the autopsy and got out of the car. They headed straight for Ducky's office and once the door was shut Gibbs couldn't hold his thoughts back any longer.

"What the hell happened Duck? How could he react like that? For christ sake he was fine earlier! I mean yeah he was quiet and a little shocky but this?"

Gibbs paced up and down the floor as Ducky wearily took his seat at the desk. After pacing for a few minutes Jethro told Ducky everything that happened from the moment they left Gibbs' place that morning to the time Duck arrived at the hospital.

"Well Jethro, to be honest with you I'm not terribly sure of this myself. The boys reaction does seem a little extreme but when you think about it it does make some sense"

When Gibbs raised an inquiring eyebrow Ducky continued "From what you tell me Anthony started exhibiting signs of shock shortly after he joked about the crash am I right? And I'm assuming that you know about the terrible accident that he was in when he was ten?"

When Gibbs confirmed Ducky's words the older man kept going

"And as you know that accident was the one that cost his mother her life. The thing that you might not be aware however is the fact that the crash was very similar to the one you two were involved in today. Anthony was lucky in both occasions only suffering from minor injuries but I fear that for whatever reason these two events together might have been the cause of his current condition. The reason for the shock I believe is simply the fact that joking about the accident made it hit home for the poor boy that you had actually crashed the car."

Gibbs however was looking more confused than enlightened.

"So are you saying that the crash brought back old memories?"

"well yes and no Jethro. I think that the boy trust you so that even thought you drive like a maniac he trusts that nothing will happen, but now he's seen that you can't control everything. I believe that his realization has translated itself to fear of your driving."

When Jethro still didn't seem to get it Ducky clarified "Jethro, the boy loved his mother, now he is in love with you. I do think that he isn't really worried about his own safety as much as he is of yours. Jethro he's afraid of losing you too."

* * *

When Tony arrived into Abby's lab the loud music was enough to make his head feel like it would explode any minute. He saw Abby working on her computer and walked to turn down the music.

"Hey I was listening to that... TONY!" Abby threw herself at the senior field agent but immediately let go when she heard his pained gasp.

"Oh my god Tony are you alright? Did I hurt you?" Tony tried to assure her that he was fine but before he could get a word out she was talking so rapidly it took a second to catch on to her speaking:

"Is it true? Oh god did Gibbs really crash the car? I knew it! I told him that it was bound to happen someday. Tell me all the details. No wait! I want to guess... Lets see... I bet he was making one of his two wheel turns and the car rolled on its roof!... Tony?" She looked worriedly at her friend who was just looking at her, not saying a word.

"What aren't you telling me mister? Oh is it Gibbs? Is something wrong with him?" Abby was starting to get worked up worrying about Jethro.

"No! Abby he's fine we're both fine" He pulled the goth to a hug.

"It's just that... God this is stupid"

"Tony nothing you will say is stupid.. well maybe if you start talking about the time you were so drunk you decided it would be a good idea to tell a biker dude how beautiful and feminine his eyes were, that is classified as stupid. But you know you can tell me anything, so spill it."

Tony smiled slightly at her before sobering again and pulling away from the hug. He sighed but knew that he couldn't really hide anything from her.

"It's just that, ever since the accident I can't even think about getting in the car with Gibbs behind the wheel without panicking. Abby I'm really afraid of his driving."

Abby gasped at her friends confession.

"I can't believe it. You can't be afraid of his driving! Not like this. I know his way of driving is a bit intimidating but you aren't afraid of anything!" She paced the floor for a moment before reaching a decision and stopping right in front of Tony.

"Now listen to me mister. You are going to go find Gibbs and you'll talk to him and let him fix you."

There was so much confidence in her eyes that spoke of the trust she had in Gibbs' ability to fix everything, so Tony just gave him a slight smile and kissed her on the forehead before leaving the lab. He didn't voice the thing Abby's trust in Jethro had first brought up in his mind 'there are some things even he can't fix, this may very well turn out to be one of them.'

He went into the elevator and headed for the bullpen dreading McGee's and Kate's reaction of the mornings events.

But Tony hadn't needed to worry. Gibbs had arrived into the Bullpen before Tony and a few growls and barks made sure that neither of the junior agents dared to say anything about the fact that apparently the almighty Gibbs had finally done what everyone had been waiting for for a long time.

Both agents kept their heads down when Dinozzo entered their assigned area, not wanting to make their boss any more pissed than he already was. Gibbs looked at his senior field agent and raised an eyebrow in question as to how things went with their goth scientist.

Tony answered the silent question with a shrug and a smile. It was apparently enough to satisfy the older man for he just frowned slightly and then gave a nod and went back to work. Tony took his seat and quickly powered up his computer before checking his e-mails.

They all worked quietly until Gibbs' phone rang. He picked up the phone and after a few minutes hung up and addressed his team.

"Gear up, we have a case"

The agents grabbed their stuff and headed to the elevator. The two junior agents frowned when they reached the car and Gibbs went to the passenger's side and without a word handed the keys to Tony and got in.

Tony smiled shyly at his Boss before getting in and after everyone was in they headed for the crime scene.

**_A/N: yeah so there it is, chapter 3... I know it's really not that good and I recall promising to BnBfanatic that this chapter would clear some things up and i'm not sure it did... This chapter is pretty much all over the place but I promise I will try to do better next time!_**

_**Thank you again to all who reviewed or otherwise showed their support i'm sorry but some of you might have been left without an response due to me not having my head screwed on straight ;) I do appreciate all the comments I get and I would really appreciate it if you'd tell me if this chapter sucked as much as I thought it did... and suggestions and alike are always welcome :) **_

_**oh oh oh! I almost forgot! I noticed that i'm jumping a lot from one pov to another, is it hard to follow the story? I've learned that just because I can follow my trail of thought doesn't mean that everyone can... ;) **_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Finally, here's chapter 4, I'm sorry for taking this long, but I'm being smothered by school work, soon school should ease up though and I'll have more time for writing but for now i think that I'll have to stick to this one chapter a week routine. But here's the chapter, hope you enjoy! **_

When the team returned to the headquarters it was already past six. They had driven almost two hours to a scene of a gruesome murder and worked most of the day gathering evidence and talking to possible witnesses, only to have the FBI come and steal their case. It wasn't that Gibbs hadn't fought for the case but in the end even he had to admit defeat.

That was the reason McGee and Kate practically ran out of the bullpen when Gibbs told them to go home.

"Go home, you can hand me your reports later, it's Friday and we have the weekend of so I don't want to see any of you before Monday."

Tony watched with tired amusement as the two agents scurried of before he turned back to his boss.

"That apply to me too?" he asked with a slight grin

Gibbs felt some of the tension leave his shoulders when he saw the grin "No smart ass, i didn't mean you"

The men moved to their desks to work on their reports knowing that the other two agents would work on them once they got home and away from their boss's foul temper. They worked in silence for some time both immersed in their work.

When Tony was done he just sat and stared at his finished report on his computer, not willing to print it and hand it over just yet. He thought back to the day and everything that had happened and he absentmindedly rubbed a hand lightly over his sore ribs. He wasn't thrilled of the prospect of going home and having the conversation he had been dreading all day.

Dinozzo wasn't stupid, he knew there was no way to avoid the talk they would surely be having about his little problem. He knew his lover and the fact was that Jethro was a fixer. He wouldn't let the matter go and especially when he felt responsible for the situation he would be hell-bent to make thing right.

Tony's hopes of delaying the inevitable were however dashed when he saw Jethro stand up and come to stand behind his back and lean over to look at his screen.

"you about done Dinozzo?"

"Just about Boss, let me just print this and put it on your desk. Or on second thought why don't you go ahead and head home, I'll follow you in a bit"

"you trying to get rid of me? I was kinda hoping that once you've finished up here you could give me a ride since your car is still in the parking lot and mine needs a bit... fixing" Tony flashed Jethro a grateful smile and he printed his report and shut down his computer. Together they headed out of the bullpen.

* * *

When the two men reached Gibbs' house they quietly headed inside where after losing their shoes Jethro headed to put on a pot of coffee while Tony went headed for the bedroom.

The painkillers Tony took earlier had long since worn off and now he was feeling all of his pains and aches from the crash. He moved stiffly as he changed out of his suit and into a pair of sweatpants. When he moved to pull on a t-shirt he gasped with pain as his ribs protested the movement.

Jethro put on the coffeemaker and climbed up into the bedroom after his lover. He stood by the doorway and watched Tony change. He winched when he saw the bruises on the tanned body and the bandages that were there to support the injured ribs. When he heard the younger man's pained gasp he swiftly reached to help the t-shirt over the other's head.

"thanks"

"No problem. How are you feeling?"

"little sore but I'm okay"

Gibbs watched as Tony moved to put the suit into the closet before changing his own clothes.

With both men dressed in more comfortable clothes they headed to the kitchen. Gibbs went straight for the coffeepot while tony rummaged the fridge for something to eat. Upon finding a pot of leftover casserole from Tuesday and deeming it still edible, he heated up a portion for both of them and they ate dinner by the kitchen table.

When they both finished eating, the two men washed the dishes together with Gibbs washing and Tony drying before they moved to the living room and sat on the couch. Gibbs knew there was no reason to put of the conversation any longer so he took the bull by it's horns and brought up the subject they both had been avoiding.

"Tony I want you to tell me why the crash today hit you so hard. I know this isn't something you like to talk about but I need to know what's going on in that head of yours in order to help you get past this."

Tony refused to look at his lover as he spoke in a quiet voice.

"i don't know why it affected me so much but for whatever reason it did. Maybe we could just forget about it ever happening and go back to you driving like a maniac and me not being affected by it"

"I think that isn't how this works and you know it. My god Tony you can't even get in the car with me behind the wheel without panicking, we can't just ignore this. This isn't something that can be swept under the rug, I need you to talk to me so we can work this out"

Tony looked ashamed by his inability to put the incident behind him, after all it wasn't the first time he had been in a car accident. There had actually been a few crashes he had been involved at and none of them had hit him this hard. He thought back to the first of them, it was the one he had been in with his mother. They had been on the way home from some gathering when out of nowhere his mother lost control of the car and they went of the road. When the car had came to a stop Tony had looked around and seen his mother on the drivers seat with a tree branch ,that had shattered the windshield pinning her to the seat. All that happened afterwards was a blur until Tony remembers being in the hospital and his father telling him that it was his fault his mother was dead that tony should have protected her.

Tony came back from his thoughts when Gibbs placed a hand on his shoulder and called out his name.

"Tony, you with me? You alright?" He breathed a sigh of relief when Tony blinked his eyes to clear his mind and answered with a slightly shaky voice.

"yeah, I'm okay. Just a little worn out I guess"

Gibbs nodded his head in understanding and decided that they could continue the discussion the next day.

"c'mon Tony lets get to bed, we can talk in the morning." with that he stood up and helped his lover to his feet. They made their way into the bedroom and laid down together when something came to Tony's mind"

"hey Jeth, what was the name of the guy who helped us today?"

"You mean Bill? Why?"

"well I was just wandering that maybe we should take him out for drinks or something to say thank you, you did get his number right?"

Gibbs thought about it and seeing no harm in it and thinking it might help his lover to deal with things he was willing to go along with the idea.

"yeah I got his number, you can call him tomorrow and if he's free we can go for drinks or dinner tomorrow"

Tony was happy the older man had agreed and he happily reached up to kiss his lover.

"Thank you Jeth, I love you"

"love you too Tony, now go to sleep"

Tony settled down with his head on his lovers shoulder and when he felt a hand running through his hair he gave a happy sigh and wrapped an arm around his lover's waist.

"night Jethro"

"Good night Tony"

With one last kiss to Tony's hair both men closed their eyes and went to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Gibbs woke up before Tony and for a while just lay there thinking. He knew that they should continue their talk as soon as possible, but on the other hand he thought that maybe it would be good for his lover to talk to someone else about everything. He mulled things over in his head and was startled when he heard Tony's voice

"You know one of these days you'll sprain something thinking too hard" The younger man hadn't opened his eyes, but they flew open when a solid head slap connected with the side of his head.

"Hey what was that for?"

"For being an smart ass."

Tony glared at his lover for a few moments before breaking out in a smile and leaning in for a quick kiss.

"I'm gonna go get a shower it's your turn to make breakfast" with that tony hopped out of the bed and with a groan wrapped a hand around his chest.

"remind me not to do that again"

Gibbs watched as his lover disappeared into the bathroom and slowly got up himself. He smiled as he made his way downstairs to make breakfast and to work out a plan of action.

* * *

When the two men had finished eating breakfast Gibbs threw Tony's cell phone to the younger man

"Call Bill see if he's free today while I take a shower" He indicated the business card on the door of the fridge before heading to the master bathroom to shower.

Tony watched his lover go before taking the card and sitting by the kitchen table. He dialed the home number and waited while the phone rang.

"_Hello?"_

"_Hi Bill this is Tony Dinozzo" Before he could offer anymore explanation the voice on the other end of the line interrupted him_

"_Tony! It's good to hear from you, are you guys okay? Gibbs told me that he would call if there was any need, is this about the insurance?" _

"No actually I just thought that if you're free today we would like to take you out for a thank you dinner. So, you have any plans for today?"

"_well hell Tony, you don't need to do that! Anyone in my place would have helped... But Being that I have no plans for today and nowhere to be I'll be more than happy to take you up on your offer. What'd you have in mind?" _

"_Well there's this little Italian place that Gibbs loves, you know Giovanni's, maybe around four?"_

"_Yeah, I know the place. Four works for me, I'll see you there then"_

"Yeah, see you then, bye Bill"

"_Bye Tony, tell Gibbs I said hi"_

"Will do"

With that both men hung up and tony turned to regard his lover who had just arrived into the kitchen wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

"what did he say?" Gibbs regarded his lover and was pleased to see the smile on his face and the relaxed posture.

"We'll meet him at Giovanni's at four if that's alright with you?"

"yeah that works for me" Gibbs said moving to embrace his lover from behind.

Tony made a face at the older man. "eww, you're all wet and clammy"

Jethro fastened his teeth to the other man's neck and proceeded to nibble and suck at the skin there doing his best to leave a big hickey.

"So? you complaining?"

"N- No, just and observation"

"That's what I thought" With that Tony was pulled to his feet and the two men headed back to the bedroom to pass the time 'till they would be leaving for the restaurant.

* * *

When Bill pulled up in front of the Italian restaurant he was feeling a bit... well to be honest he didn't know what he was feeling. When Tony had called him earlier that day, he had been happy to hear from the younger man, he didn't understand it, but he had some deep seated need to make sure that he was okay, especially after everything he heard in the hospital and what happened in the parking lot.

Bill pushed all negative thoughts back and entered the cozy little restaurant. It wasn't hard do spot the young man he was looking for and when the Italian saw him and smiled with a wave Bill waved back before hanging up his coat and making his way to the small table.

When he reached the table Bill took Tony's outstretched hand and used it to pull the other man into a gentle hug, mindful of the sore ribs.

"Tony, it's good to see you. How are you? And where is Gibbs?" Bill had noticed that the table was only for two people and Gibbs was no where to be seen, so he put two and two together and added

"So it's just the two of us?"

They sat down and Bill noticed that Tony's smile dimmed a bit, but didn't disappear when he spoke.

"It's nice to see you too, and yeah, it's just the two of us, apparently Jethro had some really important business to take care of at work" Tony couldn't quite hide the bitterness in his voice and the older man frowned a bit before the expression was replaced by bewilderment.

"His name is Jethro Gibbs? And I thought my name was dull. As you probably saw from my card, my name is really William, but I can't remember the last time someone used it instead of Bill"

Tony smiled a little wickedly at that "well it just gets better. His whole name is Leroy Jethro Gibbs"

Tony was delighted when the older man gave a brief but loud laugh. He had felt a bit down after he left the house. The had had a fight with Jethro over his insistence of going to work when someone called and he refused to say what was going on. But Tony was slowly starting to relax and enjoy the company.

"So Bill" Tony started after the waiter had been by to take their drink orders and given them the menus "I just wanted to thank you for the help yesterday, we really appreciate you giving us a hand"

"I told you kid, there's no need to thank me. Anyone at that situation would have helped, I just happened to be the one to do it"

"Well I know I was a bit out of it yesterday, but I think only one car stopped to assist even though a lot of them went by."

Bill blushed a bit at the younger man's words "well then you're welcome. It's just ha habit when someone is in trouble I can't leave them alone to deal with it. That's why I ran a shelter for youngsters and other people who needed a place to sleep in, the place shut down after we lost our funding."

The waiter returned with their drinks and took their orders before leaving the men alone again.

"Well Tony, tell me what do you do for living?"

During the course of the meal Tony talked about his and Jethro's job and all the crazy stuff that went with it. They talked a bit more about bill's old job and other things about their lives.

".. and then he slapped me on the back of the head so hard my ears kept ringing for a week" Tony finished a story about one of his many misgivings and missed the look Bill send his way. They both thanked the waiter as he collected their empty plates and took their dessert orders.

"Tony, if I'm crossing a line here just tell me it's none of my business, but when I came here, you looked mighty tense, you want to talk about it?

Tony thought about it for a minute. Did he want to talk about it? He really wasn't sure but something about this man put him at ease and he figured that it might actually help to talk to someone other than Jethro.

"No, it's alright Bill. I was just a bit upset because we had a minor fight with Jethro this morning. It's just that after the accident yesterday I've had some fears about Gibbs' driving and I can't seem to get a grip and get over it. Then this morning I acted like a spoiled brat when he had to go to work. I just don't know what to do" He absentmindedly rubbed his throat over the hickey his lover had left there and accidentally pulled the shirt collar down enough so that Bill could see the top of the bruise.

He pondered the situation as the waiter brought them their desserts and they both enjoyed their treats for a bit before Bill made a decision and stood up.

"I'll be right back, just need to use the bathroom"

Tony watched as he walked to the back of the restaurant before going back to his dessert.

Bill walked to the back of the restaurant and found a quiet corner in the shadows and took out his cellphone and a business card. He dialed the number and waited for the other person to pick up.

"Hello, it's Bill, we met at the hospital yesterday"

"Yeah well, I'm with him right now, and I think you were right."

"Yeah alright...okay... see you then, bye"

Bill closed the phone, hoping he was doing the right thing.

_**A/N: There it is, chapter five everyone. Yeah the idea was that i'd post one chapter every weekend, but it's almost weekend so it doesn't matter right? And if I by some miracle have the next chapter written for this weekend and I post two chapters this week, no-one will mind... and if i'm not making any sense it's just because it's late, I'm tired and I have two exams in the morning... and still I'm not reading but writing fanfics.... my mind works in mysterious ways :)**_


	6. Chapter 6

When Gibbs arrived at the Naval yard he was in a bad mood. He hated lying to his lover, but he thought it was for the best. He really had gotten a call from the director but it wasn't anything important or work related for that matter, but he thought that it would be a perfect opportunity to give Tony time with someone to talk to and Bill being an outsider, Jethro thought that it would be easier for Tony to talk to him.

Gibbs made his way to autopsy and was relieved when he saw his old friend sitting behind his desk. The older man looked up from his paperwork and smiled at the lead agent before frowning.

"Why Jethro, it's good to see you, but what on earth are you doing here on your day off? I was under the impression you would spent the weekend with your boy, did something happen?"

Ducky had known about Gibbs and Tony from almost the beginning and had been nothing but supportive of the two of them. He watched Jethro's face and upon seeing his expression he sighed

"Or I believe a more accurate question would be, what have you done this time?"

Jethro smiled a bit before sitting down at the chair in front of the ME's desk.

"I don't know what to do. I though that talking to someone other than me would be good for Tony, but I think I went at it the wrong way and pissed him off" He told about the fight that morning and the reason behind it.

"Oh Jethro, for a great investigator you can be really dense at times. You should have gone with him and not lie to him about having work to do. The boy has been through enough without you making him feel second to your work" When it looked like Gibbs would protest, Ducky help up his hand

"I know, you did what you thought was best for the lad, but did you consider that he might have liked to have you there with him and it might have been easier for him? I mean from what you've told me he barely knows the man..." whatever Ducky was about to say was interrupted by Gibbs' cell ringing, he saw Fornell's name flash on the screen and picked up.

"What?"

"_i thought you'd like a heads up: Simmons escaped from prison five days ago"_

Gibbs' face paled at the news. Simmons was Tony's old Baltimore partner who not only was a serial killer who liked to torture bad guys the law couldn't reach, but also had a thing for his old partner. Simmons had killed a marine he suspected of dealing drugs and Gibbs had been called to solve the case. He and Tony had worked for says trying to solve the case and when they finally found the key evidence, Simmons kidnapped Dinozzo.

Gibbs frowned when he remembered the end of the case and the ensuing trial. It had been a hard time for Tony especially hearing the threats his former partner spouted at him. It wasn't hard to convince Tony to leave Baltimore and come work for the NCIS, and after that it wasn't long before the two men became lovers.

Gibbs came back from his thought when Ducky shook his shoulder and looked at him questionably

"What the hell happened Fornell and why weren't we informed sooner?"

"_I don't know, I just found out myself when we found a guy beaten to death and evidence pointing to Simmons. I called you as soon as I saw the connection between you three"_

"Call me when you know more and I want in on the investigation."

"_Okay, but it's my case you got it? There is nothing tying him to navy so you have no jurisdiction. I trust you to inform Dinozzo?"_

"Yeah I'll tell him" With that Gibbs hung up his phone and looked at Ducky

"Simmons escaped"

"Oh dear, I remember him, do you think he'll come after Anthony"

"Yeah I do Duck" He took out his phone and pressed speed dial one.

* * *

When Bill came back to the table he saw Tony paying the bill. He sat down and looked at the younger man thinking how he was going to help him.

"Well Tony, it's been fun seeing you, but I think we'd better head out. Did you drive yourself here?"

"Yeah it's been good talking with you and no I didn't drive here, I took a cab"

"Well then since you bought the dinner, let me give you a ride?"

"that'd be nice, thanks"

The two men headed outside and got in the car. Tony gave Bill the address of the house and watched as he pulled out his cellphone.

"Sorry, forgot to call on of my buddies, I'll just sen him a text and we'll get going." Tony just smiled and nodded at the explanation and soon they were on their way. Bill looked at his passenger and wondered for the hundredth time if he was doing the right thing but then he remembered what had happened at the hospital parking lot:

Flashback:

_He had been sitting on a bench in front of the hospital for only few minutes when a shadow fell over him and he looked up to see a big, muscular man standing in front of him. The man, who looked to be a bit over 30 looked down at him and Bill felt uncomfortable with the scrutiny he was under._

"_Can I help you?" The man looked at Bill for a few more seconds before answering_

"_I'm detective Randy Simmons, Baltimore PD" The man help up hi badge "I believe you just brought two men to the hospital, am I correct?"_

_Bill looked puzzled before nodding "Yeah o brought them here after they were in an accident, why? They in some kind of trouble"_

_Instead of answering the man shoved him a picture of Tony "Would one of them happen to be Tony Dinozzo?"_

"_Yeah Tony and Gibbs, why are you looking for him?"_

_The detective sighed and sat down heavily next to Bill. "Me and Tony, we used to be partners and we were happy until one day he just disappeared into thin air. I tried looking for him but all I know is that this Gibbs is responsible for Tony's disappearance. I tried talking to Tones, but Gibbs won't let me near him, I'm just so worried about him."_

_Just then the hospital doors opened and They could see Tony and Gibbs coming out with a third man and head for a car. Bill spared a glance at the man sitting next to him and saw the longing in his face. Together they watched as the three men climbed in the car and both saw the flash of fear on Tony's face when they tore out of the parking lot. _

_Simmons turned to Bill and there was anger in his eyes_

_"Did you see that? He's scared shitless!" The man sighed again and watched as Bill was obviously debating with himself whether to trust him or not_

"_Look, here's my card, if you see him again please call me, i'm really worried and I just want to get him back and I really don't think this Gibbs is treating him right." The man handed Bill his card and stood up and with a last nod turned and walked away, leaving Bill to think about everything that had happened._

_End flashback_

Bill was brought out of his thoughts by Tony giving him directions to the house. They pulled up in the driveway and Tony saw that Gibbs' car wasn't back yet.

"You want to come in for a cup of coffee?" Bill thought about it for a moment before answering

"Yeah, that sounds good, you sure Gibbs won't mind thought?"

"Nah, he's not even home yet."

They headed for the door when Tony's cell rang.

"Dinozzo" Tony answered the phone and put it between his head and shoulder while he opened the door.

"_Simmons escaped prison" _He could hear the anxiousness in his lovers voice, he stepped inside and motioned for Bill to follow.

"Are you sure Boss?" He froze for a second upon entering the hallway and finding a gun pointing at his head "Never mind boss, he's here"

Tony could hear Gibbs frantically calling his name as the phone was plucked from his hand and it thrown against a wall.

_**A/N:** **yay, I got chapter 6 finished :) And oh gosh I have over 30 reviews! Thank you to everyone who reviewed you guys are the best! **_

_**And BTW, i'm starting practical training tomorrow and I have no idea of my schedule so I probably won't post before next weekend. Hope you people are still liking the story :D **_


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: did some editing on the story to get rid of some really stupid mistakes that even i noticed. *sigh* and the rating was correct the first time around so sorry about that... last time i listen to my niece... XD**_

Bill heard the crash of the cellphone hitting the wall before he saw Tony standing in the hallway with a gun pointed at his head and for a second he froze. He had been sure that he had been doing the right thing but the scene in front of him made him question all his previous assumptions.

"What's going on detective? This seems a weird way of showing your concern and caring" He said indicating the gun still aimed unwavering at Dinozzo's head.

"Yeah, well I may have colored the truth a bit." Simmons saw Tony's puzzled expression and smirked "Tones you might not realize it, but your very own Mr hero over there was the one who led me to you"

Tony turned shocked eyes at Bill and saw the shame on his face as the older man gave him an apologizing look. Simmons just kept talking throughout the silent exchange

" I mean I have been out of prison for so little time and you're a hard man to find so it was really nice of him to provide me with an address to your house, though I must say I never pictured you for a house type of guy. Oh and you want to hear something funny? Bill here actually thought that Gibbs might be abusing you. Ain't that hilarious? Well anyway I just had to flash my badge and play the concerned ex-partner and here we are!"

He looked between the two men and motioned with his gun for Bill to step closer to Tony and when the older man complied, he threw him a pair of handcuffs.

"Please cuff Tony's hands behind his back, and make them tight."

Bill gave Tony an squeeze on the arm as he cuffed the younger man's hands tightly.

"Why are you doing this Randy?" Tony's mind was reeling as he felt bill cuff him. He couldn't believe that the man he already thought of as a friend would set him up like this, granted the other man thought he was doing the right thing but still. His thought were cut of by Randy stepping close to him and pressing the gun to his temple while gripping his hair and pulling hard.

"Because you were always the one who got away."

* * *

_"Never mind boss, he's here" _

When Gibbs heard Tony's quiet words he froze.

"Tony what do you mean? Where are you?... Tony!" There was some rustling on the line before the phone went dead.

He turned to see the worried Me and turned to rush out of the door. He left Ducky standing in the middle of the autopsy only calling three words over his shoulder that made the old doctor's heard skip a beat.

"Simmons has Tony."

Gibbs quickly made his way to his car and on the car park he called his team to meet him back at his place and then called Fornell.

"_Fornell?" _

"He has Tony" Gibbs could hear the other man coming alert and was pleased when Tobias didn't have to ask who he was talking about.

"_How?"_

"I'm not sure. I called Tony to warn him and he managed to tell me Simmons was there with him before the line went dead"

"_Where is 'there', Jethro?_

"Don't know, I'm hoping he was at home. I'll meet you at mine" With that Gibbs hang up and with a squeal of tires headed to find his lover.

* * *

When Gibbs arrived at the house there was only one car parked on the drive that he didn't recognize. He pulled out his gun and made his way to the door, that was slightly open. He reached for the door, not willing to wait for back up.

He took a deep breath before opening the door more fully and stepping inside with his gun out and ready. There were no signs of anyone in the hallway so he methodically and carefully cleared every room of the house and found no sign of his lover or Simmons. He had cleared every room but the basement when Fornell came in to then living room.

"Find anything?"

"No sign of either of them, still have to check the basement tough."

The two men headed for the basement door and at Gibbs' nod the other man opened it and with their weapons drawn they descended into the basement. As they went down the stairs Gibbs' eyes caught sight of a paper hanging form the side of the unfinished boat, but at the moment the paid them no heed.

They cleared the whole basement, Gibbs even going as far as checking under every tarpaulin and table. He sighed heavily and sat down on a work bench with his head in his hands.

"They're gone"

"I know Jethro, but we'll find them." Tobias laid a reassuring hand on his old friends shoulder. He knew how much Dinozzo meant to the other man and was more than willing to do what ever it took to help the man find his second in command and lover. After all he did owe the other man for numerous reasons and was glad to be able to pay him back.

Gibbs heard cars pull in his driveway signaling the arrival of Kate and McGee.

"Damn right we will." He got up and headed to the boat where he's seen the paper earlier. There was writing on the sheet and the words sent a chill down his spine. He ripped the note from the boat and headed upstairs after shoving the note to Fornell. The other man read the bold black letters that stated:

**He's mine and this time you won't take him away from me.**

_**A/N: I'm sorry for the really short chapter. I've been more busy than I thought I'd be and night shifts really messed up my internal clock so all I seem to do in my free time is sleep... I promise I'll do better next week. Practical training is a good way to learn, but it's sooooooo time consuming! And I tend to ramble when I'm tired hence the rambling ;) It's just that I do my best writing at night so it sometimes affects my A/N's **_

_**. **_


	8. Chapter 8

Tony looked around as he stumbled out from the back of the van Simmons had forced him and Bill into. He groaned when the movement jarred his sore ribs before biting his lip to keep other sounds from escaping.

At the house, after making sure that Tony's hands were well secured behind his back and he had no weapons on him and doing the same to Bill, Simmons had proceeded to getting them out of the house. He had grabbed Tony by the arm and indicated for Bill to go first and led Tony after him. Bill got in to the waiting van and watched as Randy shoved Tony after him. Before the two men could say or do anything the back door closed and they started the quiet journey to their destination.

The place Simmons had brought them was beautiful old cottage and Tony was sure that under different circumstances the place would have held a certain appeal. The cottage was small, probably no more than one or so rooms and a kitchen and a bath, but there was no reason to wonder why Randy had selected the place, no matter where Tony looked he could see nothing more than trees and huge lake's edge.

Tony watched as Simmons roughly pulled Bill out of the back of the van and with the gun waived Tony to proceed them inside.

"You go first wonderboy, there is a chair in the middle of the living room, sit down on it so that your hands are behind the backrest."

Tony had little choice but to comply. There was no way he could do anything with Randy pointing the gun at Bills head and keeping a tight grip on the older man's arm.

He went inside and sat down on the chair like he was told and watched as Simmons deposited Bill on the couch that was facing the chair though there was a table between the two. After tying Bills feet around the ankles and thighs, Randy moved his attention to Dinozzo.

The man approached his captive in a way that reminded Tony of an animal approaching his prey and the thought made Tony shudder. When he reached the other man, Randy used a roll of duct tape to secure Tony's feet together and his upper body to the chair and finally, to his captives surprise used the roll to secure the cuffed hands too, rolling a generous amount over the cuffs securing his wrist.

"You didn't think I'd made the same mistake twice did you? I know how good you are at getting out of handcuffs so I decided to make sure that this time you're going nowhere."

"Well you've always been kinda on the dumb side so I just naturally assumed..." Tony replied with an innocent grin.

Randy just laughed at the other man's words causing a surprised look surface on both of his captives faces. He reached down and placed a hand on Tony's cheek ignoring the way the other man flinched.

"Oh how I've missed your sense of humor, we'll have so much fun after we get out of here."

"And where do you plan on taking us? Bill has nothing to do with any of this so why drag him into it?"

"Oh You're so naïve Tones, Bill was just my insurance to make sure you'd behave yourself and you're right, he has nothing to do with this so now that he's served his purpose I think I'm going to get rid of him"

He walked to his other captive and ignoring Tony's yells cut the ropes binding Bill's legs and forced the other man to his feet and led him outside.

"Damn it Randy, leave him alone! You fucking prick!"

Bill felt numb as he was pulled up and led outside, he knew he was going to die but for some reason he didn't even try to fight the ex-detective but just went where he was led. He had been quiet the whole time after they left the house, thinking how he'd managed to screw things up so royally and now not only was he going to pay the price, so would Tony.

What Tony and Bill had failed to notice as they surveyed the place upon their arrival was the small wooden shed right behind the cabin. Randy led Bill to the shed and pushed him inside, there was nothing else inside but an arm chair and a small lamp. Randy pushed Bill to sit down and proceeded to tie Bill's hands and arms to the armrests and his feet to the legs of the chair. The other man watched slightly puzzled by the proceedings.

"I thought you were going to get rid of me?"

Randy looked up from his task with a grin.

"Yeah, I am"

With that he stood up, aimed his gun and fired a shot that caused a pained yell to fill the air, but was soon silenced by another shot.

* * *

Tony jerked when he heard the shot. He had been desperately trying to free himself from the chair and the tapes, but he was having no luck. The shot and the scream increased his struggles, the adrenalin masking the pain from his ribs and bruised body, but the tapes were too tight and there was too much of it to free his limbs.

The second shot caused Tony to freeze.

Tony hung his head and took a shuddering breath. He couldn't believe Randy had killed Bill, in any other situation he would have chuckled at the bad pun, but right then and there it didn't feel right. Yeah Bill had made some bad choices and jumped to wrong conclusions, but he was-- had been a good man, that was something Tony was sure of. After all not just anyone would help a complete strangers and the fact that the older man had run a shelter for battered women told a lot about the man.

Tony's thoughts were interrupted when Randy returned to the cabin with a grin on his face.

"You sick son of a bitch! He had done nothing wrong and you killed him!"

Simmons just smiled as Tony yelled at him. He calmly walked over to small kitchen and brought out a bottle of water and drank greedily from it.

"I had no need for him so he had to be taken care of." Randy just shrugged casually as he set the bottle down on the floor, which just served to irritate Tony more.

"You're nothing more than a no good murderer. And when Jethro finds you you'll be a dead one at that."

Randy walked behind his captive placing his hands on his shoulders and bending down to speak directly in his ear, enjoying the way Tony struggled to get away form him.

"You forget, that I have no intention of letting him find us."

He watched the other man struggle for a while before he decided that it was time for the next part of the plan, so he calmly took out the gun he'd put in the waistband of his jeans after shooting Bill and brought it down hard to the back of the other man's head, rendering him unconscious.

* * *

When Fornell and team Gibbs arrived at the naval yard after processing the house Gibbs ordered the two junior agents to take what little evidence they had to Abby and explain the situation to her. He knew it was a cowards way out but with Tony missing, he just didn't have the will to handle Abby and her emotional distress.

Gibbs and Fornell went to the bullpen where the FBI- agent started making phone calls form Tony's desk to find out more of how Simmons managed to escape in the first place and Gibbs went to his desk trying to find out where Simmons might have taken his lover, when a thought struck him.

Fornell saw the change in the other man, but before he could say anything Gibbs answered his unspoken question.

"The car. There was a car on my drive way that I didn't recognize at first but I've seen it before."

At Fornell's puzzled expression Gibbs continued.

"When we had the accident yesterday, a man pulled up to help us, that was his car. He and Tony went to get dinner today and obviously he got mixed up in all of this when he dropped Tony off."

As he spoke he rummaged through his wallet to find the business card he's put there after Tony had called Bill earlier that day. He found the card as the elevator dinged marking the arrival of his team.

"McGee, can you trace this cell phone number?"

The young agent took the card and went to sit behind his desk.

"As long as the phone is on and in range, I should be able to trace it"

McGee typed quickly on his keyboard before shouting in triumph.

"Got it! The phone us located about 60 miles outside the city in the middle of nowhere"

"Okay people gear up"

The agents obeyed without question and soon all four were on their way to the phones location with Gibbs behind the wheel. The team leader filled the two junior agents in on his conclusions as they neared the place they where hoping was where they'd find their missing teammate.

They arrived in record time at the small cabin McGee confirmed the signal was coming from. They quietly got out of the car and made their way to the cottage's entrance. Gibbs motioned for the other's to follow him and he counted down with his fingers and upon reaching zero, kicked open the door.

They quickly cleared the small cabin and found no other traces of anyone having been there for a while, but the cut ropes by the sofa. They didn't find the cellphone anywhere so Gibbs turned his eyes to McGee, his glare demanding answers.

"It's possible that the phone is somewhere outside, there is a small margin to these searches."

"We'll? What are you two waiting for? Go and find me that phone"

Kate and McGee went to do as they we're told while Fornell stayed with Gibbs in the cabin, taking a closer look around. It didn't take long however before Kate's scream of Gibbs' name made the two lead agents run outside.

The junior agents had found Bill.

_**A/N: finally! I was thinking that I'd never get this chapter written, but there it is * gazes at it proudly* well anyway, I'm sorry for the delay and I wish I could say that it won't happen again, but sadly I know that this week will be pretty hectic, but I'll try to write the next chapter more quickly. **_

_**Only two weeks left of my practical and then it's time for summer holiday! Yay! **_

_**Hope you people enjoyed this chapter! :)**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: For some reason this chapter eluded me for a while, but I finally got a grasp of it :) Only four more shifts and a few papers to write before summer vacation so soon i'll have all the time I need to finish this story (no idea how many chapters it'll take me to get it done) **_

_**And thank you again ti everyone who took the time to review, it means the world to me! I can't believe that this story has gotten over 50 reviews, now I need just another fifty to reach hundred ;) not implying anything, just stating a fact XD sorry, I really should try posting these chapters at a decent hour for a change... well anyway, here's the chapter I hope you enjoy :)**_

Gibbs and Fornell rushed outside with their guns drawn upon hearing Kate's yell. They quickly determined that the sound had come from the back so they made their way to the back of the cabin. They saw the small shed with it's door hanging open and they cautiously went in.

When they entered the shed Gibbs stopped for a second to take in the scene in front of him. Kate and McGee had freed Bill from his bindings and laid the older man on the floor and Kate was making a makeshift bandage on his arm that was bleeding sluggishly.

McGee for his part was talking to the man and trying to calm him down as the groggy man tried to get up from his position on the floor.

"Bill, what happened?" Gibbs knelt next to the man and looked him over, taking in the guilty and a bit panicked expression that he wore.

When Bill saw Gibbs crouching next to him he grabbed his arm in a hard grip and pulled the other man closer.

"Gibbs, that Simmons guy has Tony, he's taking him somewhere, you need to hurry to stop him. It's my fault that this happened and I..."

Gibbs was confused by the other man's words and cut off his rambling.

"We know Bill, it's okay. We'll find Tony and get him safe. I can't see how any of this could be your fault, so don't worry about it."

Bill opened his mouth to explain to Gibbs his involvement in all that had happened, but he didn't get the chance as paramedics came in and he was soon on his way to the hospital to get checked out and stitched up. He settled down on the stretcher with a heavy sigh, winching when the wound on his arm stinged and his head throbbed from when Randy had knocked him unconscious after shooting him in the arm. Bill send a prayer in heavens that Gibbs would find Tony and bring him back safely so that he could apologize to both men of getting Tony in this mess.

Gibbs watched as the paramedics worked on Bill and loaded him in the waiting ambulance before going back to the cabin.

"Kate start processing the cabin and the shed, McGee call back to the NCIS and arrange a guard to be posted at the door of Bills room, then help Kate." He then turned back to Fornell and ordered him to help. Fornell threw Gibbs a salute and went to help the two agents.

Gibbs sighed heavily and leaned back against the wall for a while, trying to get his emotions under control. He had hoped that Tony would be at the cabin but knew that it would have been too easy and nothing ever was easy when it came to his senior field agent and lover. It was obvious that Randy's plan was all along to dump Bill in this place and continue with Tony to some other location. The thing that made it clear was Bill's phone, as an ex-cop Randy knew all about tracking phones and all that stuff and he had certainly searched both Bill and Tony at the house so it was no accident that the other man's cell was left in his pocket.

Gibbs took a deep breath and looked up to the ceiling 'we will find you Tony, just hang on' With that thought he went back to the cabin to see if he could find anything to indicate as to where Randy was taking the young agent.

* * *

When Tony next woke up he found that he was lying on a big bed with his hands tied together and to the headboard and his feet had been tied together from thighs and ankles and to the other end of the bed. He groaned and closed his eyes tightly against the pain in his head after the knock out, courtesy of his current captor.

After the headache wasn't as severe but more of a dull ache, Tony tested the bonds and to his dismay found that they were tight enough to make it impossible to get out of them. That didn't mean that he would give up, so he started struggling, ignoring the twinges of pain from his ribs and head in favor of trying to free himself.

When he had to pause for a second to get the pain back down after it intensified due to the strain of struggling, He took a moment to survey his surroundings. The bed was located in another cabin, the thing that revealed that it couldn't be the same one was the fact that this one was clearly bigger. It bothered Tony more than he was willing to admit that Randy had obviously managed to get him in the van and in this new place without Tony having no clue as to what was going on. He shuddered at the thought of being unconscious in the hands of this psycho.

By turning his head Tony could make out an closed door that led supposedly to a bathroom and another door that was open and judging by the sounds coming from there, led to the living room. Tony listened for a little while of the sounds coming from the living room and determined that Randy was probably watching television. He looked other way and saw a window and he saw that it was dark outside. He took in the rest of the room, but found nothing of interest.

His survey was interrupted when he heard the floorboards creak before Randy's head appeared in the doorway.

"Well it's good to see you awake sleepy head. I thought you were going to sleep straight through the night and that would have made you miss your evening snack!"

Before Tony could wrap his mind around that statement Randy turned and made his way away from the room. The bound man could here his captor moving around and sounds coming through the open doorway, but then the sounds stopped and he could here Simmons make his way back.

Randy came in the room carrying a tray that he sat down on a night stand.

"I hope you're hungry, I got you some snacks"

Tony looked confused by the man's behavior, but in the other hand he shouldn't be too surprised, the man was a nutcase. His stomach rumbled and he blushed when it made the other man laugh.

Randy picked a peace of apple from the tray and held it in front of Tony's mouth. The agent didn't really want to take anything from Randy, but from past experience knew that it wasn't wise to defy him in these kind of things, and besides he needed to keep his strength up if he had any chance of escaping.

He obediently opened his mouth and took a bite from the apple slice. He ignored the satisfied look on the man's face as he ate the apple and a few crackers that he was fed. Randy took a bottle of water from the tray and knowing how suspicious Tony was, made a show of proving that the bottle was still sealed and breaking the seal, before feeding Tony half a bottle in small sips.

After he was done feeding the bound man, Simmons stood up and took he tray back to the kitchen and after washing the few dishes, went back to the bedroom. And watched from door as Tony was struggling to keep his eyes open, he smirked at the sight before making his way to the bed. He sat down on the side of the bed and took of his shoes and pants of, leaving on his boxers and t-shirt.

He looked at his captive who was looking at him with slightly glazed eyes. He settled down to lie next to the agent and pulled the covers over them. He settled on his side, facing Tony and leaned close enough to whisper in his ear, mistaking the shiver of disgust for something else.

"I knew you'd think the water would be drugged, but you should really know that isn't my style, now the injection I gave you while you slept on the other hand... "

Randy chuckled as Tony's eyes slid closed and his body went limp as the slow working drug finally took effect.

"sleep well Tones, tomorrow we'll have some fun"

With that Randy closed his own eyes and settled more comfortably beside the sleeping man, laying a hand on the rising and falling chest and quickly falling asleep with a smile on his face as he planned what he's so the following day.

TBC... **_(A/N2: i was supposed to write that at the end of every chapter but i forgot.... ;) )_**


	10. Chapter 10

Kate and McGee worked in silence for awhile trying to find anything in the small cabin to tell them where Simmons had taken Tony. Gibbs had gone outside with Fornell to see if they could find anything helpful from near the shed or the cabin itself, though considering it had already gotten dark and they had to rely on flashlights, they didn't hold out much hope for finding anything.

"I don't get it Kate, why didn't he just kill the guy? Why leave him for us to find?" The fact that Bill had been left alive and relatively unharmed had been bothering McGee ever since they found the older man unconscious, but still alive in the shed.

"I think he couldn't kill Bill, I mean Gibbs didn't tell us much about the Simmons's case but what I gathered was that Simmons only killed those that he thought didn't deserve to live" Kate picked up the peaces of the rope Bill had been tied with and bagged and tagged them, before continuing.

"Bill hasn't done anything to deserve to die, on the contrary, from what little we had time to find out about him, he seems like a really decent guy."

McGee perked up at Kate's description of the motivation behind their perp's actions.

"So you're saying that he won't kill Tony?"

"It's not killing him we need to worry about" Both agents jumped when Gibbs' voice came from the door.

After that statement they all worked in silence until they had all the evidence they could gather in the car's trunk. All were lost in their own thoughts and pondering what was happening to Tony.

They drove back to the naval yard and dropped the evidence down to Abby's lab and reassured the worrying goth before making their way into the bullpen. By the time they were all seated by their desks and Fornell by Tony's, it was almost midnight.

"Go home people, catch a few hours of shut-eye and come back bright and early to go through Simmons's background to see where he could have taken Dinozzo."

Kate and McGee glanced at one another and instead of leaving, settled down by their desks to catch a nap so that they could continue the search as soon as they had gotten a little rest.

Gibbs watched as the two agents settled with a proud smile. It didn't matter how long it would take to find Tony, but there was no doubt that McGee and Todd were both ready to give the search their all and even more if the situation called for it. Gibbs motioned for the FBI- agent to follow him and made his way to the elevator. When they were between floors, Gibbs pressed the emergency switch.

"Tobias, I want you to go through Simmons' visitors, he couldn't have planned all of this by himself. If nothing else, there might be someone providing him with a place to stay."

"I'll look into it Jethro. Why do you think Simmons came after Tony?"

Jethro ran a hand over his face and sighed heavily. "You know about the case, Simmons had a thing for Tony and it got worse until he decided to take Tony for himself when he realized we were close to him. Tony managed to escape and we brought Randy down."

"So are you more worried that Simmons' fascination for Tony has increased and he's obsessed with getting Tony as some kind of prize, or you think he's out for revenge?"

Gibbs flipped the switch and the elevator lurched a bit before continuing on it's interrupted journey.

"That's the million dollar question"

* * *

When Kate and McGee woke up from their nap it had been only a few hours and they weren't surprised to find Gibbs working on his desk, but what surprised them was the absence of the FBI- agent. They looked at each other and shrugged before going to work, trying to find anything to help them get Tony back.

They worked for a few hours before going to get something to eat and by the time the clock hit seven, they had all slept, eaten and had searched everything they could think of with very little results.

"What have you got?"

"Er, well, we don't actually have anything boss. There is nothing in Simmons' record to point us to any direction and there hasn't been any sign of him after he left the prison, till he showed up to your house."

Gibbs was about to snap at his two agents to look harder when the elevator dinged and Fornell rushed out.

"Jethro, there has only been one person who has regularly visited Simmons in prison, he claimed to be Randy's brother, but there's no record of him actually having one. We do have his name though and I got his address..."

"Damn it Fornell, stop yapping and tell me who it is and where can I find them, so we can haul their ass to the interrogation!"

"His name is Darrel Mansfield, here's the address" Fornell handed Gibbs a paper with the address and watched as the NCIS- agent grabbed his gear as he yelled for his team to do the same.

Together the four agents made their way to the parking garage, but this time they took two cars and headed for the address of their possible accomplice.

The ride to the man's apartment wasn't long and soon the four agents were standing behind Mansfield's door.

"NCIS open up!" Gibbs knocked none too politely on the door and they waited for a little while before hearing the sound of shuffling feet. The door opened to reveal a man in his late thirties with a messy hair and pajamas looking at them with bleary eyes.

"You do realize that it's not even eight am yet!" But the man held the door open so that the agents could step inside.

"Are you Darrel Mansfield" Fornell asked when he stepped inside after the lead NCIS agent.

"Yep, in the flesh. And you lot are?"

"I'm special agent Gibbs, these are agents McGee and Todd and FBI-agent Fornell. We're here to ask you a few questions."

So what can I do for NCIS? I can assure you that I haven't killed any marines if that's what you're here for"

"We're here to ask you some questions about one Randy Simmons"

"Randy? What is this about?" Darrel motioned for the agents to take a seat in his small living room and sat down on one of the chairs there.

"Do you know where Simmons is?" Gibbs asked the other man as his team seated themselves.

"Yeah, he's in jail. Why?" Darrel's eyes were narrowed as he regarded the agents, trying to see the reason behind the weird question. "I would have figured that you knew that"

"Simmons escaped prison not that long ago and there hasn't been any sightings of him but there is evidence linking him to a kidnapping and possibly murder" Gibbs watched the other man closely as Fornell delivered the news and the determined that the look of surprise was genuine and so was the exasperation and anger that followed it.

"He really did that? That stupid son of a-, and the kidnapping, it's about Dinozzo isn't it? That idiotic stubborn fool!"

"You saying you didn't know about his plans to escape? Can you explain to us why, when visiting Simmons you claimed to be his brother?"

"Agent Gibbs, Randy may not be my brother by blood, but he has always been like a brother to me and stood by me all my life. When he was sent to prison I was naturally surprised and I admit, disgusted by the fact that he's a murderer, but I knew he wasn't really himself so I've done my best to support him. He talked about escaping and getting Tony, but I never took him quite seriously. In all honesty I just took it as the ramblings of an unbalanced man." Darrel sighed heavily and turned his gaze to Fornell

"What about the murder? Did he kill Tony? I really can't believe he'd do that. After all he's obsessed with the man, it's all he ever talks about... I-I think he might be even a bit in love with him" Darrel blushed at his last words and turned his gaze to the floor so he missed the shocked looks on Kate's and McGee's faces

"We think he killed an cop who works for Baltimore PD. We think he was trying to get information on Dinozzo's whereabouts and after finding out that the cop was dirty, just killed him. "

Gibbs regarded the man sitting on the chair and noted that he was looking a bit shaken, and if Tony's wellbeing wasn't on the line, Gibbs might have considered giving the man a short breather, but right at the very moment time was of essence.

"You said Randy talked about getting Tony, what did you mean by that? Did Simmons say what he was planning on doing or where he was going to take Dinozzo?"

"i don't know where he might have taken him, but he talked a lot about Tony. He was telling me how he got away and if he hadn't they would have had a good life" He looked straight into Gibbs' eyes when he continued "He talked about you too Agent Gibbs, he said you stole Tony away from him, and he always got agitated when he talked about how Tony betrayed him by going to you. As I told you he isn't stable, one minute he can talk about Tony like he's the best thing in the world and the next talk about getting revenge on him. Agent Gibbs where ever they are I hope you find them soon or there might not be much to find"

TBC

_**A/N: I know a whole chapter without Tony in it! Just awful... well next chapter will have more Tony I promise :) **_

_**On totally different subject, tomorrow is my last day of Practical training! Yay! It has been fun and I've enjoyed my time there, but I'm really ready for the summer holiday to begin. **_

_**I'm having a bit trouble with writing the investigation part of this story, but I hope this chapter was okay and made some sense ;)**_

_**And again thank you to everyone who reviewed and/or PM'ed me! You guys are the bestest (an I do know it isn't a word, but I gotta be me...) XD**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: Yay! Chapter 11 is here. And I have some news to all of you my wonderful readers: From this chapter on, I have the pleasure to be working with and amazing BETA: Finlaure ! I owe her a big thank you for helping me make this chapter and later the rest of the story that much better (poor gal, she has her work cut out for her XD )**_

_**okay, now on with the story! **_

When Tony woke up the first thing he noticed was that it was already morning, judging by the sunlight streaming through the curtains. Next he became aware of the fact that he was now lying alone in the bed and he couldn't hear any sounds coming from anywhere, but considering that his head felt like it was filled with cotton, the lack of sounds really didn't mean that he was alone.

He took a deep breath and tested the bonds once again, hoping against hope that they would have miraculously loosened or better yet, disappeared completely, but the ties still held firm. Tony cursed and again started working on getting loose.

Tony worked on the bonds for what felt like hours, concentrating at the task and pushing all his discomforts to the back of his mind until his concentration was shattered by the sound of clapping coming from the bedroom door. He turned his head just enough to see Randy standing there clapping his hands with a stupid grin on his face.

"I so enjoy watching you trying to free yourself, I never actually told you how much I liked having you in this helpless position when I had you the first time? No I guess I didn't." Randy leered from the door.

Randy took a tray from a small table where he'd laid it earlier as he watched Tony struggling to free himself. He put the tray down on the nightstand and patiently fed a reluctant Tony some toast and juice. After brushing the crumbs from his captive's mouth he stood up and took the dishes away before returning shortly.

"I know you must be just bursting to get to the bathroom so this is how it's going to go," Randy pulled a gun from the back of the waistband of his jeans and a knife from his pocket and then stood towering over the helpless form on the bed.

"I'm going to free your legs and then your hands, as you might have noticed your hands are tied together so I'll just cut them loose of the headboard but leave them together. You try anything funny and I won't hesitate to use the gun, just remember your friend back at the cabin."

Tony's blood boiled as Randy so casually brought out Bill's faith and fought to keep his temper in check for the time being. He hated the fact that Randy was right about him needing the bathroom, so he held still as he was cut loose of the bed. Tony flinched when the sharp blade cut one of his ankles.

"Oops, my bad," Simmons cut the rest of the ropes and waited for Tony to get up from the bed. He stayed away from striking distance as he guided Tony to the bathroom while holding the gun pointed squarely at his head. Once in the bathroom Simmons closed the door behind Tony and shouted through the closed door, "You have five minutes."

Tony sighed but quickly took care of business and took a survey of the bathroom. The room was small and really didn't have anything else but a sink and the toilet itself. No windows meant that there was no chance of escaping either. The lack of mirror meant that there was nothing to use as a weapon, though the sound of the glass breaking would have surely alerted his captor, but there was no point thinking about that now.

Five minutes later Randy carefully opened the door and saw Tony standing on the other side, he motioned with the gun for the other man to precede him and they made their way back to the bedroom.

"Lie down and don't even think about escaping, I'm sure you have already noticed that there isn't any chance of that."

Tony stood beside the bed and sat down as he looked at Randy with a smirk.

"What makes you think that I'd try to escape? Maybe this time I'm perfectly happy to wait for Gibbs to find me." Tony said while lying down and missed the way Randy's eyes filled with fury. Simmons moved quickly and straddled Tony's waist and wrapped his hands around the other man's throat and squeezed hard.

"Do not mention that name to me! He will not be coming for you because your mine!"

Tony tried desperately to fight the hold and throw the man off of him but to no avail. Black dots started dancing in front of his eyes as he blindly kicked his feet and tried to hit the man with his bound hands. He didn't notice that one of Randy's hands disappeared from his throat as the other continued to put pressure to his windpipe.

The next thing he knew there was a blinding pain in his side as the knife Randy had used to cut the rope was pressed hard into his side. Luckily the blade was short, but it still hurt like hell when it cut the layers of skin and muscle. Suddenly the pressure on his throat disappeared and Tony took a deep breath, but before he could do anything else there were hands on his wrists lifting his arms and tying him back to the headboard of the bed.

Tony felt the move stretch his side and yelped at the pain, before squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth. Simmons had left the knife in so that every move jarred the short blade and sent a new wave of pain throughout his body.

Once Simmons was satisfied that Tony was well secured, he stood by the bed and watched his captive, he checked the bonds before moving his attention to the knife sticking from Tony's side, he tutted and straddled the other man's thighs and leaned in to look more closely.

"Look what you made me do. You really should know better Tones."Randy said as he stood up and fetched a first aid kit. Then he retook his position on his captive's thighs. He looked at the knife once more and then none too gently pulled it out, ignoring the pained whimpers that were coming from the injured man's mouth. He used the same knife to cut Tony's shirt off and used the pieces of it to staunch the blood flow. He pressed on the wound for a few minutes and then replaced the fabric with a dressing and put it in place before sitting back, not noticing that the dressing was already turning crimson.

He leaned forward and looked down at the pained eyes staring defiantly back at him. Simmons sighed and spoke in a gentle tone as he carded his fingers through Tony's hair.

"You really should know better by now. He isn't coming and you need to forget about him."

He pressed a light kiss on the slightly clammy forehead and stood up. He draped a light blanked over the prone figure and left the room.

Tony was left alone in the room and there was no one to see the single tear that slid from his eye.

TBC...


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: I'm back, miss me? *grin* So anyway here it is, chapter 12. I have no idea when the next chapter will be up, I'm thinking it'll probably be few days before it'll happen. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! And a very special thank you to Finlaure for her awesome beta action! **_

The agents talked to Darrel for a while longer and with each passing minute they were more and more convinced that he really had nothing to do with Simmons escaping or Tony's kidnapping. There was only one more question to ask before they would go back to the other avenues of their investigation.

"You said that you didn't know where Randy would take Tony, but can you think of any place he could go? Did he have friends or anyone he could go to?"

Darrel thought about it for a while before answering hesitantly.

"Now that you mention it, I recall him telling me about a friend who lived somewhere just outside DC, he had a small cabin he and Randy used to spend some time in. He died a few years back and from what I gather he left both of the places to Randy."

The agents went immediately on alert. They hadn't had any indication of where Tony might have been taken, but this might prove to be the break they had been hoping for.

"Do you know where this cabin or house is located?"

"I'm sorry but I really don't. All I know is that the guy who left them to him was an old buddy of his from the police force and his name was John Williams."

The four agents stood up and Gibbs shook hands briefly with Darrel and handed him his card.

"Thank you for your help, call me if you think of anything else."

With that they left the apartment and with a new sense of direction headed to the navy yard to get more info on the places that might reveal Tony's location.

When the agents were back at the bullpen they went to work finding all information they could on John Williams and the locations of his home and cabin. It didn't take long for McGee to jump up from his chair with an excited yelp. All eyes turned on him as if he's lost his mind but his next words had the others on alert.

"I found Williams' cabin and his other place!"

"Well McGee out with it!" Gibbs was reaching for his gun as he spoke and put it in his holster. And out of the corner of his eye he could see Fornell and Kate getting ready to leave as well.

"The cabin Williams owns turns out to be the same little place we found yesterday, but the place he lives himself is a few hours drive away from here in the middle of nowhere, from what I gather it's a cabin also but bigger and suitable for around the year use."

"You got the address?"

"Just downloaded it into the GPS navigator."

"Then grab your gear and let's go!"

The drive to the cabin was long and quiet. Even with Gibbs behind the wheel of the car they'd all huddled into, it was taking them a long time to reach their destination. Gibbs was gripping the wheel hard enough to turn his knuckles white. He was worried for his seconds, _his lover's_ safety. Tony had been in the madman's hands for far longer than he would have liked and they had no idea what had happened to him, hell they weren't even sure they'd find Tony at the cabin, because the only clue they had was the fact that one of Simmons' buddies told them about the connection.

Gibbs swore in his mind that if they found the younger man in one piece he would take him home and wrap him in bubble wrap before cuffing him to the bed to keep him from getting into trouble again.

Kate and McGee were having similar thoughts sans the cuffing to the bed part. The two agents were both worried for their teammate their friend. Throughout the course of the investigation, the more they'd discovered about Simmons, the more they worried about their friend. The agents looked at their team leader's tense figure and traded a look with each other, yeah they might be worried about their friend, but the boss was worried about his lover.

They had known for a while about the two men's relationship but it had never been mentioned so they had no idea if the two men knew of their knowledge. But it was kinda hard not to notice the protectiveness Gibbs showed towards Tony or the fact that Tony seemed to have taken permanent residence in Gibbs' house. They almost felt sorry for Simmons because once Gibbs got a hold of him, there wouldn't be much left of the man.

Fornell saw the look the two younger agents shot their Boss and the look that passed between them and suppressed a smirk. It seemed like the agents had finally jumped in the clue bus headed for gayville. But he really shouldn't have been surprised, after all the agents hadn't seemed to bat an eye at the fact that Tony disappeared from Gibbs' house on their free Saturday. Fornell looked at Gibbs and sighed. He really hoped that they were headed for the right place, for all of their sakes.

They were only halfway to their destination and Gibbs was getting agitated, he couldn't explain it, but his gut was telling him that they were running out of time so he pressed the gas pedal harder and sent a prayer heavenwards for Tony to be okay and in the cabin they were headed for,_ 'Please god don't let us be too late.'_

* * *

Randy went into the kitchen and washed the few dishes from Tony's breakfast and afterwards leaned back against the counter with a smile. It seemed that he was doing that a lot after he got Tony back. Randy's smile faded when he recalled Tony's earlier words about Gibbs. No matter what he said to the other man, Simmons was well aware that Agent Gibbs would be looking for his second and that it wouldn't take him long to track down this place, after all it was in the same name that the other cabin was.

No, Randy thought, they couldn't stay here either. He hadn't actually thought any of this far enough. He had been so obsessed about getting the Italian back that he forgot to plan what he would do when he finally got him. He didn't bother worrying about it too much, he had Tony and everything else would fall in place sooner or later, right now he just had to pack up enough stuff to last them for a few days until they could find a new hideaway.

With a plan of action in mind, he went about gathering all the necessary items and packing them into a car his old friend kept in the garage. He sent a thanks to his friend as he checked that the car was in working condition and filled the half empty tank from a canister he had stashed away. He then went back inside and emptied all the cupboards and took all the canned goods to the trunk of the vehicle.

When he deemed everything they needed was packed, he made his way to the bedroom to get Tony. He stood in the doorway for a while, just watching the sleeping agent. He walked to the bed and frowned when he noticed the shivering of the tall frame, even though the blanket was still covering him. Randy lifted the blanket and for the first time saw that the dressing he had put on the wound was completely soaked through and the blood had started soaking the beddings and Tony's pants. He quickly took off the dressing and saw that the wound wasn't bleeding so much anymore so he just changed the dressing and tried to make sure it stayed sound, he took out a roll of duct tape and put some of it over the dressing.

After he had tended to the wound, Randy looked at Tony's face and shook his shoulder to try and rouse the agent, but got no response. He slapped one of the clammy cheeks, but that didn't get a reaction either. He decided to just carry Tony to the car and cut off the ropes binding the agent to the bed. He put down the knife and took the roll of duct tape and with it secured the other man's legs together from ankles and thighs before hefting the tall body over his shoulder to a fireman's carry and carried the unconscious agent to the car.

Simmons laid Tony down on the back seat of the car and took two pieces of Tony's tattered shirt from his pocket and bound his eyes and gagged his mouth. He then reached in his pocket to take the car keys so that they could get going, but his probing fingers only encountered the empty insides of the pocket. He cursed as he remembered that he had left the keys inside. He left the car door open so that he could keep an easy visual of his captive and went to fetch the keys.

Randy opened the cabin door and went inside and saw the keys on the table in the kitchen. He picked them up and turned to return to the car just as he heard a car pull up the gravel road at a high speed and come to a screeching halt in front of the cabin. He ran outside and cursed vehemently when he saw Gibbs and the other agents getting out of the car. He knew there was no way for him to get back to Tony and drive away and he was alone against four, so he ran to the forest that surrounded the cabin, swearing that he'd return for Tony.

The four agents quickly jumped out of the car as they reached the cabin and when they saw the man standing by the door bolt to the woods, Kate and McGee immediately ran after him. Gibbs motioned Fornell to join the chase as he went in search of his younger lover. He didn't have to go far though as he saw the open car door and as he went closer, he could see a body lying on the back seat.

Gibbs rushed to the unmoving figure and removed both the blindfold and gag, before finding a pulse and sighing in relief. He quickly called for an ambulance before he took out his pocket knife and used it to cut the tape around Tony's legs and the rope around his wrists. As Tony's hands were freed, his other arm dropped limply over the side of the seat, revealing the taped wound to Gibbs sight. He carefully pealed back the tape to see the damage. Gibbs had already seen blood beginning to make its way from under the tape as it had soaked the dressing and dissolved the glue holding the tape after the wound had reopened by Randy moving Tony to the car.

Jethro cursed when he saw the wound on Tony's side and he quickly moved the front seats forward so that he could get in the car and tend to Tony, without laying the younger man on the dirty ground. Once he was inside he took off his jacket and sweatshirt, leaving him only in a tee and he used the shirt to press on the still bleeding wound and the jacket was laid over Tony who was shivering on the seat.

"C'mon Tony, open your eyes!" He pressed harder on the wound and was gratified to see the younger man's eyelids flutter and after a while, the expressive eyes blinked open.

"Hey Tony, how are you doing?"

Tony tried to turn his head to the sound of his boss' voice, but groaned when even the slightest movement intensified the headache he was having.

"B- boss? 's you?" Tony asked with a slight slur in his voice.

"Yeah it's me, just hang in there for a minute and the ambulance will be here soon."

Before Tony could say anything else they heard the crunch of footsteps and Gibbs immediately drew his gun with one hand as the other kept pressure on the wound, but he relaxed when he saw McGee, Kate and Fornell emerge from behind the corner of the cabin. Gibbs watched them make their way to the car and looked at them impatiently.

"Well?"

Fornell looked Gibbs in the eyes as the two younger agents focused their attention to their injured team mate, "We lost him Gibbs."

TBC...


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N: So I'm back with chapter 13 in tow. Thank you for all the reviews and alerts, they warm my heart and make me want to write more and faster :D. Thank you to Finlaure for ultrafast beta reading and I'll let you get to the chapter now. **_

When the paramedics arrived on the scene, they swiftly moved Tony from the back of the car to a stretcher and examined his injuries. When the medics were satisfied that their patient was stable enough to travel and there wasn't any obvious life threatening injuries, one of them turned to the group of people watching in the sidelines.

"We need to get him to the hospital, there are signs of both shock and infection, and if one of you is planning on riding with him I suggest you hurry."

With that the medic helped his partner to load the stretcher and its unconscious passenger into the waiting ambulance. Gibbs looked torn between wanting, no _needing_ to be with his lover and on the other hand, his obligation to stay back and work his job. Tobias seemed to sense his friend's dilemma and stepped to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Go with him Jethro, we got this covered."

Gibbs nodded his thanks and hopped into the back of the ambulance and took a hold of his Second's hand.

Fornell and the two agents watched as the ambulance left the cabin and headed for Bethesda. Fornell looked at the two NCIS agents and noted their slightly lost look, but he was impressed when the look quickly turned to determination.

"Okay, we need to work the scene and see if we can get a lead on Simmons. McGee, start working the inside of the cabin. Todd and I will take perimeter and see if there is any sign of Simmons."

To their credit, the two agents didn't hesitate but went to follow Tobias' orders. There hadn't been any talk about who would take the lead or the credits of the case, but all of the agents had been in agreement that none of that mattered at the moment, so even though they might not have liked it, the two NCIS agents followed Fornell's lead for the moment.

McGee went inside and started working the cabin. He decided to start from what looked like the bedroom. He went into the room and the sight of the bed made him gag. The bed had a large bloodstain on it from where Tony's wound had bled on the beddings. Tim had seen the wound and didn't think it was that serious, but seeing the amount of blood on the bed, he started wondering that maybe it wasn't as superficial as it first seemed.

* * *

Gibbs sat in the back of the ambulance clutching one of Tony's limp and clammy hands and carding a hand through his hair as the medics worked on him. Gibbs was dismayed to see that the wound on Tony's side was still bleeding and his breaths were coming in quick huffs. One of the paramedics started an IV on Tony that was pushing fluids in him, while the other medic laid one of the metallic blankets on the shivering form.

Gibbs listened as the medics conversed as they worked on their patient, he didn't understand most of the things that were being said, but words like hypovolemic shock and possible internal bleeding made his chest tighten.

Tony didn't regain consciousness during the drive and when they arrived at the hospital, he was rushed to the ER. Gibbs attempted to follow the gurney, but he was directed to the waiting room and no amount of glaring and snarling could sway the staff. As Gibbs stalked into the waiting room he was greeted with the sight of Abby and Ducky already seated. Abby nervously wrung her hands until she saw Gibbs standing in the doorway and she jumped to her feet and ran to crush the older man into a hug.

"Gibbs! How is he? Timmy called us and told us Tony was being brought here but he didn't know anything else. He also said that he was unconscious and that is so not a good thing, what if he was hit on the head again? He gets hit a lot; I mean he probably has a permanent concussion by now-"

"Abigail," Ducky interrupted Abby's rambling as he came to stand next to the two.

"Why don't you allow Jethro to take a seat and tell us what he knows? It would probably be beneficial to allow him to breath."

"Oh sorry," Abby released her hold on the older agent.

"There's not much to tell, they didn't tell me anything. Duck can you go and find out what you can?"

"Why yes of course, I will find out what I can. In the meantime I'd suggest that you find the restroom and get cleaned up," Ducky indicated Gibbs' hands that had Tony's blood on them. He then turned and went to get an update on the young agent.

Gibbs watched his old friend walk out of the room and he turned to the Goth girl standing in front of him, biting her lip.

"Abby-"

"Duckman's right you should get cleaned up, I'll go and get you a coffee and a Caf-Pow for me if they have them." Gibbs drew her in a short hug and whispered in her hair, "He's gonna be fine."

Abby's answer was quiet and slightly muffled, "I really hope so Gibbs, he needs to be okay."

It didn't take long for Ducky to return with a doctor in tow. Gibbs had been pacing up and down the waiting room after he got rid of the blood on his hands, and Abby had been sitting quietly on one of the chairs. Upon seeing the two doctors Gibbs quickly made his way to them, quickly followed by the Goth scientist.

"This is Anthony's doctor James Stone, Dr. Stone, this is Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, Anthony's legal next of kin and Miss Abigail Scuito, a friend of ours." Ducky introduced the doctor who shook hands with Gibbs and Abby.

"How is he?"

"Well Agent DiNozzo has a fairly severe wound on his side that we deducted to have been made with a knife or some other sharp object, the wound isn't really deep, but unfortunately the knife nicked his liver and that is causing quite a lot of bleeding both external and internal we will be taking him up to surgery as soon as he's prepped. He also has a two broken ribs and strangulation marks on his throat, but what concerns me at the moment is the fact that the wound is infected and Agent DiNozzo is in shock, caused by the drop in his blood levels. He has lost a lot of blood and we're giving him IV fluids to try to combat the shock and we're also giving him a wide spectrum antibiotic to help him fight of the infection. The fact that he hasn't woken up is also a major concern, and there are signs of head trauma, so we'll take him to a CT- scan before we take him up to surgery, but you can move to the waiting room next to the scanning room and operating theaters and I'll have someone keep you updated."

Ducky thanked the doctor, who took his leave. The three people processed the doctor's words and after a while made their way to the other waiting room and once there Gibbs called Fornell for an update.

"_Fornell!"_

"What have you found?"

"_Pretty much nothing, we found a bloody knife in the bedroom of the cabin and we're sure Simmons had DiNozzo tied to the bed because of the cut ropes we found there. The bed is a mess Jethro, there's a lot of blood. How's DiNozzo?"_

"In surgery, he's gonna be fine. You find Simmons?"

"_No, he's a slippery bastard. There's no sign of him, we called for backup who are scanning the surrounding woods, but I doubt they'll find anything."_

"Dammit!"

"_Tell me about it. We're about done here so we'll take the evidence to NCIS and start looking for Simmons. You want me to send Todd and McGee to the hospital after we bring the evidence?"_

"Yeah, they'll want to know how Tony's doing, they can take Abby back to the lab with them."

With that Gibbs shut the phone and started pacing the waiting room floor. He thought of his agent in the surgery and wished that he would be okay.

The three people waited in silence for a while before Ducky started talking softly to Abby to distract her from the waiting. He was in the middle of telling her a story that she thought made really no sense, when they hear hurrying footsteps. Gibbs heard them too and he stood up when the doctor from earlier hurried into the waiting room and made his way to Gibbs.

"Agent Gibbs, there's been a complication."

TBC...

_**(**__**insert evil laugh here**__**)**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N: Let me start by saying, holy smokes this story has gotten over 100 reviews! Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to drop in a few words, I never would have believed that this story would be such a success . Here is chapter 14 and once again I would like to take a moment to thank my lovely beta Finlaure for her hard work. Thank you :) **_

_**On with the story...**_

Gibbs felt his heart skip a beat at the doctor's words. He heard Abby's gasp behind him and Ducky's muttered 'oh dear', but he forced himself to ignore everything else as he concentrated on the doctor.

"What complications?" Gibbs forced himself to remain calm, even if inside he was as close to panicking as he could be without showing it.

The doctor seemed to realize what the people were thinking and hastily filled them in on what was happening.

"Oh, it's not what you think, I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, but I really need you to come with me Agent Gibbs. Agent DiNozzo woke up in the middle of the scan and he's disoriented and I'm afraid he might do some damage to himself if he doesn't calm down. Because we didn't have a chance to finish the scan we're hesitant to give him sedatives as we don't know if there is anything wrong with his head." Gibbs breathed a sigh of relief and heard it echoed by the two people behind him. Without a word he nodded for the doctor to lead the way and followed him into the scanning room.

Once he entered the chamber that held the tomography machine, he saw his lover struggling weakly against the hands holding him down. Gibbs was glad to see him awake, but it broke his heart a bit to see him so scared and struggling for freedom. He rushed to the side of the gurney and laid a hand on his lover's cheek flinching when the other man tried to turn away from his touch.

"Tony it's me, c'mon calm down, you're safe." The gentle words had no effect on the disoriented man so Gibbs stepped it up a notch. "DiNozzo, stand down!" Those words seemed to have an effect and the nurses were surprised when the man under their hands went completely still and turned his head in the direction of the authoritative voice.

"Boss? Wha 'appened?" The words were slurred but Gibbs was overjoyed to hear the voice of his second none the less.

"Shh, don't worry about it now, you're in the hospital and you need to let these nice people check you out," With Tony calmed down the doctor and nurses were able to get the scan completed without a problem. The doctor came to stand next to Gibbs as they watched the nurses work on the patient and get him ready to be taken to surgery.

"The scan showed minor bleeding in his brain, but we're hoping it'll resolve itself and we won't need to operate. But now we need to take him to surgery to fix the wound on his side." Gibbs went to Tony and whispered something in his ear that none of the medical personnel could make out, but it made their patient smile tiredly. Jethro walked alongside the gurney as far as the OR door and with a final kiss to Tony's forehead, watched as he was taken to surgery.

Gibbs walked back to the waiting room and braced himself as he saw Abby jumping up from her seat at the sight of him.

"How is he? Is he okay?" Gibbs shushed the Gothic girl with a finger to her lips.

"He's doing okay. They just took him to surgery to fix his side and the nicked liver." He turned his gaze to the medical examiner and continued, "The scan showed minor bleeding in his brain, but they think it won't require additional surgery."

Ducky nodded his head, "Now I quite think all we can do is wait and see. I believe it will take over an hour for the surgery to finish, so why don't you get something to eat? I will stay here if there's any news on Anthony, I will be sure to inform you, and you can also go check up on the good fellow you found at the cabin yesterday." Gibbs nodded his agreement and with Abby in tow they headed for the cafeteria to get a bite to eat. They ate in comfortable silence and once finished, Gibbs sent Abby back to the waiting room with a sandwich and a tea for Ducky, as he himself made his way to Bill's room.

Gibbs showed his id to the guard standing by Bill's door before going inside. The man was sitting up in bed, watching television. His head had a bandage on the side of it and he was wearing a sling, he also had dark circles under his eyes and his whole demeanor was oddly defeated.

Bill looked up when he heard the sound of the door closing and saw Gibbs standing in the doorway, he immediately went on alert.

"Gibbs! Did you find him?"

"Yeah, we found Tony, he's in surgery right now, but he'll be fine. I just came to see how you're doing while we wait for the surgery to be over." Gibbs sat down on a chair beside the bed and studied the other man's pale features. He saw the relief in his eyes and frowned when it was replaced by regret.

"I'm so sorry Gibbs. It's my fault he's in surgery, if it weren't for me making stupid assumptions-"

"Hey, the only one to blame is Simmons, and when I catch up to him I swear I'll make him pay for what he did."

"No you don't understand," Bill took a deep breath and in a quiet voice told Gibbs about his suspicions at the hospital and then about Simmons coming and flashing his badge and finally about his involvement in Tony's kidnapping. After he finished he looked down at the blankets, not daring to look Gibbs in the eyes.

"I can understand why you did what you did, but it doesn't make it right," Gibbs was oddly calm and the quiet words made Bill look up to the other man and he saw the emotions in his eyes, ranging from disbelief to anger, "But the fact is, that Tony could have been killed or taken to a place where we wouldn't have been able to find him. I need to think about everything you told me and talk to Tony about it, but right now, I can't forgive you for endangering his life like that."

With that Gibbs got up and left the room and didn't look back. Bill wished that Tony would really be okay and he would soon have a chance to apologize to the younger man and try to make amends for his screw up. He sent a quick prayer up for both Tony and Gibbs, before laying down and attempting to get some sleep, but the guilt didn't let him rest and dreams of Tony dying plagued him.

When Gibbs returned to the waiting room, the look on his face was enough to halt the questions, the other two were about to ask. The three sat in silence until the lead agent looked up at Kate's and McGee's arrival, which alerted Abby of their presence. Abby launched herself at the two new arrivals and drew them one at a time to a bone crushing hug. "Timmy! Did you find Simmons? Tell me you got that slimy little-"

"Abs, we didn't get him, but we got you some evidence back in your lab. How's Tony?"

"Ah, Anthony is in surgery at the moment to repair the wound on his side that has become infected and he has some internal bleeding from a nicked liver. He also has some bleeding in his brain, but at the moment it isn't bad enough to warrant surgery of its own. If everything goes well, he should be making a full recovery." Ducky smiled encouragingly to the two agents.

Gibbs listened with half an ear as Ducky filled Kate and McGee on Tony's condition. After he finished, Gibbs stood up and addressed his two agents.

"Sit rep!" Kate hastily told Gibbs everything they had found, which wasn't much more than what Fornell had told earlier, "Fornell headed to the FBI to see if he could find anything on Simmons and where he might be heading now that his hideaways have both been found out."

"Okay, take Abby back to the NCIS."

"But Gibbs-" Gibbs cut off Abby's protest with a look.

"I need you working on that evidence to see if you can find anything to show where Simmons might be headed, we also need all the evidence we can get against him so that when he is returned to prison, he won't ever get out of there." He turned back to his agents.

"Also, put surveillance outside Mansfield's apartment, now that Simmons is on the run he might go back to his 'brother' for help." The agents nodded their understanding and turned to leave the room, when Doctor Stone came in and approached the group with a grim look on his face.

The first thing he became aware of was the beeping of a heart monitor and the smell of the antiseptic that just screamed 'hospital'. Next step was trying to open his eyes, which proved to be more difficult than he remembered, but finally he was able to pry his lids open, but his efforts were rewarded with a splitting headache when the light hurt his eyes and he shut them tightly with a groan.

Gibbs had been sitting by his lover's bedside for an hour when he heard the groan. He was immediately up and carding a hand through Tony's hair and gently coaxed him to open his eyes. "You can do it Tony, open your eyes for me" He smiled when the green eyes opened to slits and after a few blinks he could see Tony became more alert.

"What happened? How'd I get here? Did you catch Randy?"

"One thing at a time. We found you at a cabin and you were brought to Bethesda and you just had surgery to repair a wound on your side."

"And Randy?" Tony's eyelids were again getting heavy as whatever drugs they had given him continued to pull him under.

"Just sleep Tony; we'll talk more when you wake up." Tony yawned and closed his eyes, unable to fight the drugs. He felt lips brushing his forehead and with a smile he fell asleep.

Gibbs continued his vigil at Tony's bedside. He had ordered the others to return to NCIS after the doctor had informed them that the surgery had gone well, but the infection had been more severe than they'd originally thought and that it would take a while for it to clear. The doctors also felt they still needed to keep an eye on the bleeding in his brain. Gibbs had promised to keep the others updated and told Kate to post a guard on Tony's room's door, but until the guard got there, Gibbs himself would make sure that no-one could hurt Tony while the other man rested.

TBC...


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N: Okay so here's the next chapter, Hope you like it and Thanks again for Finlaure for the beta reading! **_

Gibbs stayed next to his partner until the next morning. He went to get some coffee and to go to the head. He placed a kiss on Tony's forehead, subtly checking the younger man for a rising fever, but the injured man's temperature had stayed steady throughout the night. Jethro went to the corridor and nodded to the guard who had been posted on Tony's door. The guard told him that there had been no unusual activity and nothing to report so Gibbs headed for the cafeteria for a cup of the sludge they called coffee.

When he returned from his coffee run he frowned when instead of there being one guard in front of Tony's door, there now was two. He asked for an explanation and didn't like what he heard one bit. With more force than strictly necessary he opened the door and then glared at the man sitting beside Tony's bed.

Bill looked up as he heard the door opening and tried not to flinch under the glare leveled at him.

"I had to see for myself that he's doing okay" The glare didn't soften though and the words, quiet as they had been, still caused the man on the bed to stir.

Gibbs watched as Tony opened his eyes and looked at him, before turning his head, his eyes focusing on the man sitting beside him.

"B-Bill?"

"Yeah, I'm here Tony, How are you doing?"

Tony blinked back the tears that sprang into his eyes. He was exhausted and in pain, but none of that mattered at that moment.

"You're alive," Tony's soft whisper caused Bill to turn shocked eyes at Gibbs and the senior agent frowned when he realized that all this time Tony had been silently grieving Bill's death and knowing the young man, he probably had been blaming himself as well.

Bill looked back at the man on the bed and took his hand in his good one and squeezed.

"I'm here, you feel that kid?" He squeezed a bit harder "I'm a bit banged up but alive."

Bill took a deep breath, "Tony, I know this isn't the right time for this, but I wanted to apologize to you, it's my fault that you're in here and I just-"

"No" Tony interrupted the other man. Bill lowered his head and tried to disentangle his hand from the younger man's but Tony wouldn't let him.

"Bill, I had some time to think about all of this when I thought that you had-" Tony shuddered but kept going, "When I thought you were dead. As a Federal Agent I show my badge to people every day and expect them to trust me just because I carry it. I don't blame you for taking the man with the badge at face value." He looked at Gibbs and saw that the older man was listening intently, letting him handle the situation without interrupting. Tony knew that Gibbs must know the whole story, because he hadn't asked one question during the whole exchange.

"I think you're beating yourself up over all of this enough for the both of us, but I want you to know that Jethro has never laid a hand on me and he has never intentionally hurt me." Tony squeezed his eyes shut as the pain in his side and ribs intensified.

"Tony you okay?" Gibbs was instantly on alert and ran a hand through Tony's hair.

"Hurts," Tony whispered painfully.

Gibbs nodded and turned his gaze at Bill, "I'll go get the doctor, keep an eye on him."

Bill nodded his head, he understood that Gibbs hadn't forgiven him yet and he would have to earn his thrust back. The fact that he was willing to leave Tony alone with him spoke volumes, granted there were two guards on the door and they were in the hospital, but still.

The two men weren't alone for long until Gibbs came back with the doctor in tow.

"Hello Agent DiNozzo. Agent Gibbs told be you were in pain, can you tell me on a scale from one to ten how bad is it?"

"Eight."

"Okay, I'll just take a quick look at the stitches and then I'll give you some morphine. Would you two gentlemen please wait outside?"

"They can stay." Tony said through gritted teeth and the doctor just nodded and went to work. He made quick work of the examination and replaced the old bandages with clean ones before giving his patient an injection of Morphine. He made a few notes on the chart before turning to Gibbs and Tony.

"Everything looks fine and the antibiotics seem to be working well and the infection is looking better. The pain should be easing also, Agent DiNozzo, can you tell me how the pain is now?"

"Sure doc," Tony said with a goofy grin as the pain meds started working, "This is some good stuff you got here. You know you could make a fortune by selling this stuff!" The doctor raised his eyebrow while Bill looked vaguely amused and Gibbs groaned.

"DiNozzo and pain meds, they're a deadly combination." Gibbs smirked as the doctor cleared his throat.

"The meds I gave him should see him through most of the day, but if he's in pain, don't hesitate to ask a nurse to give him something for the pain." With that the doctor left to check his other patients.

"I think I should get going too, before nurse Ratchet finds me gone." Bill stood up, but looked at the man on the bed as Tony giggled. Bill shook his head and he laughed slightly as Tony's voice drifted after him.

"Nurse, whose name is Ratchet, carries a big mean Hatchet. Hey, Boss you think that Ratchet is a lumberjack's name?" Tony rambled while he wiggled his fingers.

Bill stepped into the corridor and looked around, trying to see the guards who had been standing by the door, but couldn't see anyone. He turned and was about to step back into Tony's room when he felt the barrel of a gun against his back and a familiar voice spoke into his ear, "Nice to see you again, now be a good man and go back to Tony's room."

Gibbs watched as Bill left the room and then he turned to watch his lover and smiled lightly his loopy ramblings. He heard the door open again and frowned as Bill entered with a doctor following close behind. But as Gibbs looked at the doctor closer he recognized Simmons' face and went immediately on high alert. Before he could do anything, Randy raised the gun he had been holding to Bill's back and placed the barrel against the older man's head.

"Well if it isn't Agent Gibbs, it's so not good to see you. Now step away from Tony or I will pull the trigger. " The look in Randy's eyes was enough to convince Gibbs that he should do as he was told and bide his time and wait for his opportunity to subdue Simmons.

Once Gibbs was standing away from the man on the bed, Randy took a step away from Randy and still aiming the gun at the other man, made his way to stand beside Tony, who was watching the proceedings quietly. Randy placed his free hand on Tony's cheek and frowned as the man turned away from his touch.

"Don't touch me you prick!" The words were rewarded with a slap to Tony's face from Randy.

"Tony that is no way to talk to the man who just went to all this trouble to come and get you out of this hellhole, I know how much you hate hospitals so you should show a bit more gratitude. "

Tony glared at the man, who suddenly swung the gun to point at Gibbs who had slowly inched his hand towards his gun.

"Agent Gibbs, take out your gun and put it on the floor," when Gibbs didn't obey fast enough to suit him, Randy turned the gun to point at Tony, "Now!"

Gibbs nodded and put his gun on the floor and upon Randy's order kicked it away from himself and towards Bill, but Randy just turned his attention back to the man lying in front of him.

"Now Tony, get up." As Tony disconnected the machines he was connected to and attempted to stand up he only to end up in a heap on the floor. Gibbs had tried to reach for Tony when he saw that he was about to go down, but Randy moved the gun in warning so Gibbs could do nothing but watch as his lover hit the floor hard.

Randy was dismayed to see that Tony couldn't walk on his own, he sighed dramatically and motioned for Gibbs to come over. "Gibbs, it seems that you'll have to carry the little princess out of here as he can't seem to walk himself."

"He can't leave he's just had surgery yesterday!" Bill tried to reason with the madman, but he just ignored the words and motioned for Gibbs to pick Tony up. Jethro gently lifted his lover but instead of heading for the door, laid the other man on the bed. Tony had his eyes clenched shut as the fall had obviously pained him and Gibbs was worried to see a cut on Tony's head where it had obviously impacted with the floor. Gibbs didn't have time to worry about it for longer because Randy stepped right behind him and pushed him aside so that he fell on the floor and his head hit the bed railing. Gibbs was dazed and blinked his eyes to clear his head. He saw Randy hit Tony with the butt of the gun before pointing the weapon at the man on the bed.

"Well Tony it looks like we aren't getting out of here, so I'll just change the plans a bit."

Before anyone could react, Randy grabbed Tony's chin with one hand and pressed a kiss to his lips before bringing the gun to Tony's head.

"I really didn't want it to end like this." Randy smiled as he said the words and tightened his finger on the trigger. Before Gibbs could do anything more than get to a standing position, a shot rang out and Randy fell to the floor. Gibbs looked in the direction of the shot and watched as Bill collapsed to his knees letting go of the gun in his hand, Gibbs' gun.

Gibbs ran over to Randy, who was lying on the floor, clutching his injured side and trying to get a hold of his gun that had dropped and skidded under the bed when Bill had shot him. Gibbs grabbed Randy by the collar and punched him in the face then dragged the man to a radiator and cuffed his hands to it.

Gibbs looked at Bill and upon seeing that he was uninjured just a bit dazed by what had just happened, he made his way to his lover to check him out. He pressed the call button beside the bed and waited for a nurse to appear when Tony suddenly grabbed his own head and let out a strangled moan.

"Tony what's wrong?" Bill seemed to have snapped out of his daze also for the moment and upon hearing the moan made his way to the two men, but before he could take two steps, Tony's eyes rolled back in his head and his body started convulsing uncontrollably.

TBC...


	16. Chapter 16

_**A/N:Okay, so I wasn't supposed to have this chapter posted today, but thanks to Finlaure's faster than light beta reading, this chapter is ready for posting :) So thank you to my wonderful beta. Here is chapter 16:**_

A nurse came into the room not long after Gibbs pressed the call button. She took in the scene before her and shouted for assistance before hurrying to Tony's bedside.

"What happened?" She asked as she turned Tony to his side and firmly held his convulsing body.

"He fell from the bed and got hit on the head, then clutched his head and started seizing." Gibbs said as he tried to sooth Tony.

More medical people came into the room, two nurses went to Simmons who had blood running down from his busted nose and his side was still bleeding from where he had been shot. The rest of the people went to Tony and the doctor from before did a quick exam and once his patient stopped convulsing, he ordered an emergency CAT scan. He then turned to Gibbs and gave him a quick explanation.

"We need to get Agent DiNozzo to a head scan, I'm afraid that the bleeding in his brain might have been what caused the seizure, if that's the case we might need to operate to repair the damage."

Gibbs nodded his ascent and watched as his lover was taken out of the room. He then turned his attention to the nurses working on Randy.

"Could you unlock these cuffs? We need to treat his side and his nose."

"Bring in a bed for him and I'll secure him to it, he's a dangerous criminal and for your safety he needs to be secured so he can't escape."

The nurse's eyes widened but she moved to get a bed and the restraints that are used to keep violent patients from doing damage to themselves or others. She soon returned with a doctor and Gibbs unlocked the cuff and helped to get Simmons on the bed and tied down. The gunshot wound wasn't serious, more a scratch than anything, but it still hurt like a mother, and Gibbs was pleased about the pain Simmons was in. He looked up and saw the marine guards by the door and he went to talk to the two men. He ordered the guards to go with Simmons and not let him out of their eyes, the issue of how Randy got past them would be dealt with as soon as his agents and Fornell would get there.

Speaking of Fornell, he grabbed his cell as he watched the nurses and doctor wheel struggling Simmons down the hall.

"_No Gibbs, we don't have anything new yet."_

"Get Kate and McGee and come to the hospital. Randy made an appearance."

"_Shit, Jethro. What happened? Is DiNozzo okay?" _

"No, Randy's getting patched up and then I want you to get him the hell away for here and haul his ass back to prison and this time make sure he stays there!"

"_Consider it done Jethro. We'll be there as soon as we can."_

Gibbs hung up the phone and took a deep breath to calm himself before going back to Tony's room where Bill was sitting on one of the chairs, looking at the blood on the floor. Gibbs walked behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You did the right thing. If you hadn't shot him he would have killed Tony and the way you shot him-"

"I was aiming for his chest, but I guess it's a good thing that I'm not really good with guns isn't it. I was trying to kill a man, how could I have even been thinking about that?"

Gibbs sighed and squeezed the shoulder his hand was still resting on.

"You were protecting someone and thanks to you, Tony is still alive and for that I'm grateful." Gibbs cleared his throat as thoughts of life without Tony tried to overwhelm him, "You should go to your room and get some rest, and I'll go and wait for a word on DiNozzo."

"I'll come with you, I need to know if he's going to be okay," Gibbs just nodded and the two men headed for the waiting room. It didn't take long for the doctor to rush into the room with a clipboard and a grim expression.

"Agent Gibbs, we need to take Tony up to surgery right now. The bleeding in his brain was aggravated by the hit on the head and now that the hemorrhage has grown. It's causing the pressure inside his skull to grow, if we don't operate now, the chance of brain damage not only grows but becomes a certainty. I need you to sign the consent forms before we can proceed with the operation which will be performed by our resident neurologist and I'm going to be there to assist him."

Gibbs swallowed hard and took the pen and the form and signed his name at the bottom, he didn't care that his hand was shaking. He handed the items back to the doctor, "Is he going to make it?"

"If the surgery goes well and there are no complications, there is a good chance that he will make a full recovery, but the operation and the next few days are going to be vital."

The doctor promised that the men would be kept informed and hurried off to the direction of the OR. Gibbs slumped heavily in a seat in the waiting room and Bill slumped in the seat next to him. The two men sat in silence until Fornell and the two NCIS agents came into the room.

"Gibbs, how's Tony?" Kate was the first one to speak as they entered the silent waiting room.

"DiNozzo is in surgery to relieve pressure in his skull. Kate I want you to call Ducky, have him get Abby and come here. McGee, you and Fornell go get Simmons and I want to know why the hell the guards weren't at their post!"

Bill had told Gibbs about the fact that the guards hadn't been by the door as they were supposed to be, and Gibbs really didn't think he could question them right now without ripping their heads off. He watched as his agents left to do as ordered and raised an eyebrow in question when Fornell didn't immediately follow suit. He smirked a bit when Tobias gave a huff and turned on his heel to follow McGee.

It took an hour and a half before Ducky and Abby entered the waiting room and by that time Fornell and the marine guards had already left with Simmons in custody, leaving Kate and McGee to wait for news of their teammate. Abby rushed into the room and promptly threw herself to the retired Marines arms and sat in his lap. "Oh god, Gibbs, I can't believe this is happening! Tony was doing fine and now he's in a surgery again, is he going to be okay Gibbs? I mean I know we have to think positive thoughts but what is your gut telling you. Oh god, do you-"

"Jethro," Gibbs cut off Abby's frantic speech, "Has there been any news of young Anthony after they took him to surgery?"

Gibbs shook his head and Ducky sighed heavily as he took a seat on one of the vacant chairs. Abby buried her face in Jethro's shoulder and she sobbed silently as the lead agent tried to comfort her by rubbing a hand up and down her back.

The group sat in silence for a while, before Abby got up from Gibbs' lap and went to sit next to McGee and Kate, she sat quietly with the two agents, but the silence was broken when she let out a yelp as a thought struck her and everyone turned to look at her.

Gibbs saw her looking at a bold man who was standing just outside the room's entrance and he raised a questioning eyebrow at her, but it was Ducky who voiced the question.

"Abigail, what on earth was that about? You nearly gave me a heart attack dear girl."

Abby turned wide eyes at the other people in the room and with a horrified voice stated:

"When they took Tony to surgery, you don't think they had to shave his head, do you?"

TBC...


	17. Chapter 17

_**A/N: so here it is, chapter 17. Thank you for Finlaure for her work as my beta.**_

The team and Bill sat anxiously in the waiting room hoping for information on how the operation was going. Abby was sitting next to McGee and resting her head on the agent's shoulder as she dozed. McGee was just looking at space and Kate was sitting on his other side, taking comfort from her religion in the form of a quiet prayer and her rosary. Bill and Ducky were engaged in a quiet conversation, or rather Ducky was telling Bill one of his long winded stories as Bill dozed while listening to the words with one ear. Gibbs had long since abandoned sitting and was now doing his best to leave an imprint on the linoleum floor. He stopped his pacing when he saw two doctors approaching the waiting room and the rest of the people were also alerted of the new presences. One of the doctors was the one who had been working Tony's case since they got there, while the other introduced himself as the neurologist. The neurologist stopped in front of Gibbs and reached his hand out to shake the Marine's hand.

"Agent Gibbs? Hello my name is Stephen Henderson I'm the neurologist who performed the surgery on your agent. I'm sorry for not being able to introduce myself before hand, but we really didn't have any time to waste."

"How is he?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

"Agent DiNozzo had some bleeding in his brain before and after that hit to his head aggravated the hemorrhage the bleeding caused the pressure in his brain to rise and cause a seizure. We surgically relieved the pressure and repaired the bleeding. The operation went well, but unfortunately we can't tell if the pressure or the resulting seizure did any permanent damage until Agent DiNozzo wakes up."

The doctor paused as Abby gave a strangled sob and buried herself into McGee's arms. Gibbs turned to look at the shocked faces of his team and Bill, but quickly turned his attention back to the doctor.

"When can we see him?"

"I'm afraid there are some limitations for that. You see, Agent DiNozzo is in the ICU and he has slipped into a coma." The doctor paused as the people in the room reacted, "We have him on a ventilator that helps him breathe. I have to tell you that he isn't out of the woods yet, the longer he stays in the coma, the less his chances of waking up are. We're hopeful that he'll come around soon, but there are no guarantees. You can visit him two at the time. Agent Gibbs as you're listed as the next of kin, you are welcome to stay the night if you so wish as long as you won't interfere with the medical procedures. We'll send a nurse to show you to his room."

The doctors took their leave and Ducky went with them to get more information on the surgery. The nurse came in soon after the two doctors had left and showed the way to Tony's room. Gibbs felt numb as the group was led towards his lover's room. Tony was in a coma and it was all because he couldn't protect him. His thoughts were interrupted as they reached the room and the nurse paused by the door.

"I trust that Doctor Henderson explained to you our two person policy. Whichever of you might be Jethro Gibbs may stay the night if you so choose."

Gibbs nodded his thanks, "We'll be sure to follow your policy. I will be staying the night with DiNozzo."

The nurse nodded, "If you have any questions or need something, there's a call button beside the bed." With that she left and went to the nurses' station.

"Kate and McGee you can go in first." Gibbs cut off Abby's protest before she could even form it and watched as the two agents entered Tony's room, "You can go in after them with Bill and take your time as they give me their report." Gibbs could have head slapped himself for not demanding a more detailed report earlier but he was too worried about Tony to be thinking about those kind of things. Now that his love was out of surgery, Gibbs could breathe a little easier even though Tony wasn't in the clear yet.

Abby nodded her head in understanding and they waited for the two agents to return. After five minutes Kate and McGee came back from seeing Tony and Abby quickly rushed into the room. Upon seeing the still figure lying on the bed, she gasped and started crying again and carefully took one of Tony's hands in hers. She tried to stem her tears before running a light caress over the bandage on his head and the bald skin surrounding the white dressing.

"Oh Tony, I can't believe they cut your hair! I mean they shaved all of your beautiful hair. You're so gonna freak out when you wake up and see all your hair gone..." She made a fruitless effort to wipe away the tears as she regrouped herself. "Tony I need you to get better, you hear me mister? We need you around here, I need you and even though he'll never admit to it, Gibbs really needs you. I want my big brother to be okay, so hurry up Tony and get better soon so that you can wake up and be show everyone that you're okay."

Bill had stayed by the door, blinking back tears the Goth's speech had caused to surface and he made his way to the bed and took the younger man's other hand in his good one being mindful of the IV lines. He gave Abby a reassuring smile before turning his attention back to the man on the bed.

"You know Tony, this young lady is right, I may not know you as well as she does, but I can see that Gibbs needs you to get better and we're all here for you when you decide to wake up."

Gibbs watched with his two agents as their lab tech and the quiet man entered the room before Gibbs turned to face his two agents.

"Report. I want to know why the hell the guards weren't guarding Tony's door."

McGee cleared his throat nervously before telling what he'd found out. "Well it seems like Simmons asked one of the guards to come assist him in a handling a very violent patient and so Bill's guard left to go with the 'doctor' who then managed to lock him into an old storage room. Then he subdued the other guard and dragged him to a closet next to the supply room. After the guard came to, he discovered that the door was unlocked so he let himself out and upon hearing his partner banging on the door of the room he was locked in, he let him out too and well the rest you know Boss."

Gibbs looked at his two agents and nodded his head as he thought about the two guard's fate.

"I want you to take Abby home and get some rest, in the morning I want you to get a report from Fornell on what's going on with Simmons and I'll deal with the damn guards myself when I get the chance. I'm going to call Morrow in the morning and arrange for us to have a few days off." The agents nodded their agreement just as Abby and Bill exited Tony's room. Abby gave Gibbs a hug, "Take care of him Gibbs, and call me if there's any change!"

"I promise Abs." He placed a kiss on her cheek and watched as his team made their way down the hall and turned to the man standing next to him.

"You should go Bill and get some rest."

"Gibbs, I think you should go get some rest too, you look like you need it."

"I won't leave him alone." Gibbs glared at Bill to emphasize his words and the other man sighed in defeat. "Okay, I'll see you later."

With that Bill headed for his own room and Gibbs went to sit by his lover and took hold of his hand. Gibbs sat on the chair beside Tony's bed and took in the sight of his lover. He thought how he'd done the exactly same thing just a little while ago and he couldn't help but compare the differences that made this time so much worse. The most obvious things were the ventilator that pushed air into the ailing man's lungs with a soft hiss. There was also the white bandage covering a part of his lover's head and where earlier would have been silky strands of hair there was now newly shaved skin. Gibbs faintly smiled as he thought how Tony would react to having his head shaved bare, but the smile faltered as his mind came up with the biggest difference of all, the coma. This time Tony wasn't just sleeping off the anesthetic, this time he was in a coma. Gibbs felt tears prick the corners of his eyes as all the emotions came to surface and threatened to drown him. Tony was in a coma, and there was no way of knowing, if he'll ever wake up.

"Listen to me Tony. I need you to hear me. I understand that you need to rest, your body needs time to heal, but I'm telling you right now, that I expect you to wake up as soon as you're ready. I don't care if there's something wrong, we'll deal with it together, I just need you to live and wake up. You can't give up. I'll be here waiting for you, no matter how long it takes for you to get better, okay?"

Gibbs hoped against hope to get some kind of reaction, but his only answer was the soft hiss of the ventilator.

TBC...


	18. Chapter 18

For the next two days Gibbs held vigil by Tony's bedside leaving only to get coffee or something to eat. He didn't sleep much, only grabbed cat naps at nights. The team visited as often as they could and Abby and Ducky spent a lot of time at the hospital. Bill was also at the bedside as much as he could, even if he had been already released from the hospital the day after the shooting. It was obvious to Gibbs that the man still felt guilty as hell and Gibbs wasn't going to add to that. Bill had made mistakes, but he had made up for them by saving Tony's life and Gibbs wasn't kidding himself, even if Bill hadn't 'helped' Simmons, he still would have gotten to Tony one way or another.

That was one of the reasons Gibbs told Ducky to talk to the guilt ridden man and help him deal with the whole betraying Tony's trust and having to shoot another man. Gibbs knew he wasn't good with words and he had total faith in the old ME that if anyone, then he could help Bill deal with things. The next time Bill came into Tony's room after Ducky had talked to him; Gibbs was gratified to see that he didn't seem as haunted as he had been.

On the morning of the second day Gibbs was just reading the morning paper to the still unconscious Tony when his cell rang. He knew he wasn't supposed to have the thing on in there, so he went into the waiting room to take the call, but not before whispering to his lover's ear that he would be right back.

"Gibbs."

"_It's Fornell, just thought you'd like to know that Simmons is back behind prison bars, waiting for the trial for his new charges." _

"He back in the same place?"

"_Sadly no," _Gibbs could hear the grin on Fornell's voice, _"You see there was some kind of mix up and Simmons has now been sent to a Baltimore prison, but luckily he has a lot of friends there from his time as a cop." _

That made an evil grin spread on Gibbs' face, "Well I just hope they make him feel really welcome in there."

"_Oh I think we can be sure of that."_

"Thanks Fornell."

"_Anytime Jethro, any chance we're even now?"_

"Not even close." Gibbs grinned as he heard the muttered curses and flipped his phone shut before turning to go back to Tony's room.

He sat down next to Tony's bed and resumed the reading of the newspaper. For a while there were no other sounds but the steady beeps and hiss of the equipment attached to Tony, which Gibbs had learned to tune out by now, unless there was something unusual going on, and Gibbs voice reading the paper. Soon though another sound joined the steady mix and Gibbs looked up as he heard the clomp of Abby's boots as she made her way inside the room.

"How is he?" She was unusually subdued, like she had been for the last two days. Gibbs gestured for her to come closer and the girl threw herself at Gibbs and buried her face in his shirt.

"There's been no change Abs."

"But he's gonna wake up, right Gibbs?" Jethro sighed at the question; they had been over this every time Abby visited, but every time she would ask the same question again.

"I hope so Abs, You know DiNozzo. He's just waiting to make a big entrance." Abby smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood and the two lapsed into a silence, both just watching the steady rise and fall of Tony's chest that signaled his continuing existence.

Abby stayed for an hour before she had to go back to work. Gibbs had managed to get the week off for his team, but Ducky and Abby were needed to work the other team's cases. Abby gave Gibbs one last hug before making her way out of the room; she smiled at Ducky, who tipped his hat at her as he passed.

"Oh my Jethro, you're looking a little haggard my friend," was Ducky's greeting as he saw Gibbs' crumbled appearances and the dark circles under his eyes.

"Good to see you too Duck." The older ME ignored the sarcastic tone and picked up the patient's chart.

"Well I see there's been no change since yesterday. Why don't you go and get a bite to eat and I would suggest a shower wouldn't go amiss either."

"That your way of saying I stink?" Gibbs glared at his old friend.

"Well as the saying goes, if the shoe fits. Now go on Jethro, I'll be here to keep Anthony company while you're away. Things are quiet at work at the moment and I do hope that my services won't be needed today so I am in no hurry."

Gibbs nodded his head and with kiss to Tony's forehead and a nod to Ducky, he left to take a shower and grab a bite to eat.

Ducky watched him go and turned his attention to Tony, "Well dear boy, it's just the two of us then. You know Jethro has barely left your side since the operation and he's really worried about you, as we all are." He sighed before continuing, "We're all here for you, but I fear this is taking quite a toll on Jethro, I fear that if you don't come out of this, he might not be able to survive."

Gibbs returned an hour later with a coffee cup in his hand and made his way to Tony's room. He whispered into Tony's ear before he sat on the other side of Tony's bed from the ME and exchanged a smile with the other man. Ducky was telling another one of his long winded stories and Gibbs let it wash over him, not really paying attention. He took Tony's hand in his and squeezed and at the same time stroked his free hand over Tony's head. He was zoning out just watching his lover breathe and stroking his head, Ducky's voice a gentle drone in the background, but suddenly it was interrupted as one of the monitors started beeping rapidly.

"Ducky, what's going on?" Gibbs was getting worried as the heart monitor showed Tony's pulse getting faster, but Gibbs' attention was soon directed away from the monitor and to the figure of his lover as he felt a squeeze on his hand. "Tony? C'mon wake up"

Finally after some coaxing from both Gibbs and Ducky, Tony opened his eyes and promptly panicked.

TBC...

_**A/N: That must be the clumsiest ending to a chapter I have ever written XD it makes me laugh every time I read it, but I just couldn't make it run smoother... Oh well ;D. Thanks to finlaure for her beta reading. I'm thinking that there isn't too long to go, maybe two or three more chapters if there aren't anymore unexpected detours... :D**_


	19. Chapter 19

_**A/N: So, my wonderful readers, Only one more chapter to go after this one and this story will be done :) . Thank you to again to Finlaure for the beta reading. **_

The first thing Tony became aware of, was a soft noise, it wasn't unpleasant but more soothing. As he concentrated more, the noise started to make sense and it changed into a voice that spoke of things he really didn't understand at this stage. The next thing he became aware of was that there was a hand holding his. He also came aware of as strange sensation in his throat and head and he started to panic, he tried to take a breath, but there was something in his throat. He opened his eyes to try to make sense of everything, he heard an urgent voice that he knew he should listen to, but he couldn't concentrate on it. Tony saw two people bending over him and he struggled, trying to get away from them.

Finally in the chaos he recognized a voice calling his name and telling him to calm down, _Gibbs_. With that realization Tony allowed his body to go limp and just looked at the older man with panicked eyes.

Gibbs saw the moment when his voice penetrated Tony's panicked mind and he sighed in relief.

"Tony, there's a tube in your throat, it's there to help you breathe so don't fight it, okay? The doctor will be here in a second."

Tony looked at him with confused eyes, but then the words made sense and he relaxed. The doctor arrived just then, accompanied by two nurses.

"Well hello Agent DiNozzo, it's nice to see you awake again." He turned to Gibbs and Ducky. "Would you two please wait outside? I need to check Agent DiNozzo out." Ducky nodded and as he saw that Jethro wasn't happy about being thrown out, he grabbed his friend's arm and dragged him outside so that the Doctor could do his job.

"Why'd you do that Duck?" Gibbs glared at the older ME as they stood in the corridor.

"Because Jethro, the doctor needs to do his job and right now its best if we give him some privacy to finish checking young Anthony." Gibbs sighed and slumped against the wall.

"You think he's okay?"

"I certainly think that he's getting better. The fact that Anthony seemed to recognize you is a good thing. Amnesia is always a concern in these kinds of injuries, but it's likely that Anthony has managed to avoid that. But I'm afraid we won't know more until the doctor is finished with the exam."

The two men waited in silence, neither calling the others that the young man had awaken, in an unspoken agreement they'd decided to wait and see what the doctor would say. Finally the nurses exited the room and motioned for the men to go inside as the doc was waiting for them.

Gibbs was the first to enter. He quickly surveyed the room and his lover. He was dismayed to see that Tony's eyes were closed, but what made him breathe a little easier was the fact that the tube that had been down Tony's throat, had been replaced with a nasal cannula. As both men had entered the room the doctor motioned for them to move to a corner of the room to talk.

"As you can see, Agent DiNozzo has been taken of the ventilator and is now breathing on his own. I did have to sedate him as he got agitated during the examination, but the drug should wear out in a few hours. Agent DiNozzo isn't showing any signs of memory loss, but in fact seems to have a good recollection of the events that led to his most recent injuries. I assured him that both you and the other gentleman are fine and the criminal is in custody." The doctor hesitated and both Gibbs and Ducky saw it.

"Whatever it is just spit it out." Gibbs said gruffly as his panic rose again.

"Well, I have to take him to get a new CT scan, but the bleeding in his brain seemed to have caused a minor damage to the speech center in his brain. We won't know if it's permanent or just temporary before we do the scan."

"What exactly does this mean doctor?" Ducky asked the younger man.

"He's having some trouble forming some words and in some instances remembering the words, but the most noticeable thing is the slur that has appeared in his speech. I'm hopeful that the problem will resolve itself with a little help from speech therapy."

Gibbs listened to the doctor's words, not truly understanding the meaning of it all, he turned and went to sit beside his lover, confident that Ducky would explain everything later to him and they would help Tony get better. He took the sleeping man's hand in his and squeezed.

"I promised that I would be here for you and we'd get through anything. We'll get through this I promise." The man on the bed didn't respond so Gibbs just sat there, holding the hand and watching the rise and fall of Tony's chest. He was startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder, but tried to hide the reaction. The gentle smile on Ducky's face made him know that he hadn't succeeded.

"They're going to take him to the scan now Jethro. I called everyone and they agreed to give you and Tony some time and they would be by tomorrow."

Gibbs blinked and was surprised as he looked at his watch that almost an hour had passed since he sat in the chair.

"Come along Jethro. It will take them a while to get the scan, so why don't we go and fetch a cup of coffee" Gibbs nodded and the two men watched as Tony was wheeled to a scan before they headed for the cafeteria.

"How bad is it Duck?" Gibbs breached the subject as they walked to get something to drink.

"Like the doctor told us, there is no way to know for sure before the scan, but he thinks that Anthony was lucky and the speech problems are only temporary and will correct themselves in time, but there is also a minor possibility that the bleeding and the resulting pressure may have caused some permanent damage, but we shouldn't go out borrowing trouble like my aunt used to say."

They ordered their drinks, a coffee for Gibbs and tea for Ducky, and made their way back towards the room where they sat and waited for the nurses to return with Tony and after that happened, they waited for the doctor to bring the results.

The doctor entered the quiet room and stood by the end of his patient's bed.

"Well, I have the results from the scan. It seems that there is only very little damage to Agent DiNozzo's brain and because of the small size of the damages area, there is reason why his speech shouldn't return to normal."

"But I thought you said there's some damage?" Gibbs didn't understand how there could be damage but Tony still be able to get his ability to speak properly back.

"The thing with our brain is that even if the damages area won't repair itself, the other parts of our brain can learn to compensate the loss so that the other parts can learn the functions that the damaged part took care of. I'm confident that in time Agent DiNozzo will recover completely and until then the difficulties in his speech will be just a nuisance rather than a bigger problem. "

Gibbs nodded his head in understanding and turned his attention back to the man on the bed. The doctor had just left the room, when Gibbs heard Tony moan and it looked like he was starting to come around.

"Tony? Can you hear me?"

"Jet'ro? 's tha you?"

"Yeah I'm here. Can you open your eyes for me?" Gibbs tried not to cringe as he heard for the first time the slur in his lover's voice.

"Thi'ssty," Ducky took the glass from the bedside table and placed the straw against Tony's lips.

"Here you are my dear boy. How are you feeling?"

Tony drank for the straw and after he was done, turned his head to look at the medical examiner.

"Duck? Wha're you doin here?"

Tony didn't like the fact that he was still slurring the words, he remembered the doctor checking him over and there was some talk about speech problems from some bleeding, but he really didn't remember too much of it.

"Wha's wrong wit me?" Tony didn't like the look on his lover's face and he immediately knew that something was seriously wrong.

"Tony, you just had a scan to see if there was any damage to your brain, since Randy's latest visit caused the pressure in your brain to rise," Gibbs said quietly, "They discovered that there was enough damage to affect your speech, but he said that it's going to be fine with some speech therapy."

Tony watched the two men sitting at his beside, hoping that this was all one elaborate joke, but the looks on their faces made him believe it was true. He closed his eyes and thought for a minute about the older man's words. So it would probably be only temporary, he could handle that, no need to panic. He would just have to try to get his ability to speak properly back, and soon. Ducky's voice penetrated his thoughts, "You really are quite fortunate. There could have been a lot more damage done. You just need to rest right now and everything else will resolve itself."

Tony could feel Gibbs starting to run a hand over his head and he sighed as the feeling of the hand on his bare skin made him relax and his eyes closed. It took his tired mind a second to catch up to his thoughts but when it did his eyes popped suddenly open and he moved to sit up, only to fall back down as his other injuries made themselves known. He breathed through the pain before he asked the question that was burning in his mind.

"Wha' 'append to my hair?"

"They had to shave it so they could relieve the pressure in your brain." Gibbs told his lover.

"Iss gone?"

"Yeah, Tony, it's gone for the moment."

"Ssshit!"

Gibbs and Ducky looked at each other before neither man could help it. They started laughing at the look on Tony's face as the younger agent ran a hand over the bits of his head, where he could feel the shaved skin. Tony turned wide eyes to his laughing companions before settling against the pillows with a pout.

"Not fun'y, I look like a bowling ball on legss."

Gibbs bent down and placed a kiss on his lovers head, "Don't worry, it'll grow back and I kinda like you bald."

"Really Bosss, that's mighty k-kinky of-f you."

"Shut up DiNozzo and get some sleep."

"On it, Bosss."

The two men watched as Tony closed his eyes and fell asleep. Both men confident that Tony would pull through this little hitch with little difficulty, after all, they just had to get the younger man to talk so that his speech would improve and how hard could that be?

TBC...


	20. Chapter 20

_**A/N:So here it is, the last chapter of fear of the drove, sorry for the delay folks. I'd like to thank you everyone who read, reviewed or put this story on alert. I can't believe this story has gotten 160 reviews! Thank you to Finlaure who has helped me so much with this story and who is an amazing beta. I loved writing this story and i'm a bit saddened to end it, but this is it: **_

As it turned out, getting Tony to talk was harder than either of the two men thought. Abby and the rest of the team came to visit Tony the day after his waking up, after he had been moved to a regular room, and tried to get the man to talk. Tony's answers were all one or two words at the most and he concentrated so much on sounding normal, that after a five minute visit he was exhausted. Gibbs told the young people to head out so that Tony could get some rest. After a few parting hugs from Abby and a wave and well wishes from Kate and McGee, Gibbs closed the door behind the visitors and took his place beside his younger lover.

He looked Tony over and sighed as the younger man pretended to be asleep.

"Tony I know you're awake."

"Sso?" Tony cursed under his breath as the slur made its self known, he hated that he sounded like a retarded person. He hated his physical weakness that was the result of his injuries and the pain he was feeling, but more than that he hated the stupid slur and occasional stutter. And to top it all off, he couldn't remember some words when he needed them. He had tried earlier that morning to get Gibbs go and get some rest, but he couldn't remember the word home, that had resulted in his breakfast tray sailing through the air.

"Tony, you don't have to try so hard around us, we won't think any less of you for something so-"

"Ssso what Gibbss! Sso meaningless? Sstupid? Or m-maybe d-disgusting! I Ssound like I belong i-in a f-freaking facility!" The more agitated Tony got, the more difficulties he had with his speech and it made Gibbs' heart ache for his lover.

"Calm down Tony. You sound like you, maybe you're having a bit of difficulties forming words right now, but you still sound like you, though the silent version of you isn't half as good as the original." Gibbs took a deep breath before he continued, he watched as Tony lay defeated on his bed, the earlier anger all but faded leaving behind only desperation and sadness. He took the younger man's hand in his and stroked his head with his free hand...

"We'll get through this, even if you never speak like you used to again, none of us will leave you or think less of you, but we need you to try and get better. And for the record, I was going to say something you have no control over. "

Tony looked at Jethro and saw the sincerity in his eyes and nodded, too emotional to speak in fear of bawling like a newborn baby. He gave a shy little smile and was grateful when Gibbs smiled reassuringly back at him.

"Get some sleep, I'm sure Abby will come and visit again soon and she will expect you to talk to her."

Tony groaned but dutifully closed his eyes and smiled. He fell asleep as he felt Gibbs' fingers massage his scalp where a little stubble had grown.

It took a little over a week of being in the hospital, a week of constant poking, prodding and speech therapy, before Tony was well enough to be left home. During that week, his speech had improved and the physical injuries had started to mend, so that his ribs weren't hurting anymore so much and the wound on his side had started to mend, even though the stitches were still in place and would be for a little while yet. But the most visible change was the fact that Tony's hair had started to grow back and there weren't thick bandages on his head anymore, only a small patch where they had to cut the scalp to access his skull.

Gibbs had gone home the evening before he could take Tony home with him and he was back at the hospital bright and early, carrying a duffel bag back with his lover's clothes in it. He made his way to the room where Tony was enduring his final check up from both his own doctor and the neurologist who had performed the surgery to relieve the pressure in his skull.

Gibbs knocked on the door before stepping inside, seeing that the doctors were about done anyway.

"Sso am I free to go?" Tony asked eagerly, looking form one doctor to the other and to Gibbs who was looking at his lover with amusement. The slur in Tony's voice was still easily recognizable, but after a week of speech therapy Abby's style, it had gotten a lot better.

The doctor who was in charge of Tony's case smiled at his patient as the neurologist had to take his leave as his beeper went off.

"Well Tony, it seems that everything is fine enough that I can let you go, but I need to caution you to take it easy." To Tony's annoyance the last words seemed to be directed at Gibbs rather than himself, the doctor knowing his patient after caring for him for over a week and seeing him try to overdo things in order to get home sooner.

"I believe you have appointments set up with the speech therapist, and you need to come back to have the stitches on your scalp and side removed. Your latest scans were clean, but we need to take control scans so we'll do the first set when you come back in a few days. Now if you'd just take it easy and the nurse will be by in a while with breakfast and after you've eaten, I'll be by with your discharge papers."

Both Gibbs and tony nodded the doc their thanks, even if Tony was pouting about the fact that he had to suffer through one last crappy hospital breakfast.

After the doctor left the room, Gibbs placed the duffel at the foot of Tony's bed.

"You ready to change out of the gown?"

"Oh, 'm more than ready," Tony said as he kicked the blanket off his legs and moved to get up. He was glad that the iv that had been his constant companion for a while, had been removed the previous evening and the catheter had been take out days before, when he'd first been able to walk to the bathroom and back by himself.

Gibbs steadied his lover as Tony stood up too quickly and gave himself a head rush and swayed.

"Whoa, easy there tiger," With Jethro's help Tony got changed into the sweatpants and -shirt that had been in the duffel. Afterwards Tony sat resting on the bed, his side and head hurt after the activity, but he was feeling better than he had since Randy's return.

Soon the nurse brought the breakfast and even if tony had gotten a lot of his confidence back as his speech improved, the clearest sign of everything slowly returning to normal, was the fact that unlike any other day, Tony flirted. Jethro chuckled to himself as the nurse left giggling to herself after her encounter with DiNozzo charm and he was in too good mood to feel the tiniest bit jealous.

Tony ate his breakfast and watched as Gibbs walked around the room, carrying all of his get well gifts and cards to the duffel and putting them inside. He chuckled around his spoonful of porridge as he saw his lover eying the care bear plushy Abby had brought him. Tony was amazed at where on earth the lab rat had managed to get a gray Care Bear plushy, with Goth make-up and a skull on his tummy.

Gibbs glanced at his lover and smiled at the quiet chuckle, before pushing the toy in the duffel with the rest of the gifts.

After the nurse came to collect the dishes, Tony and Gibbs took a last survey of the room to ascertain nothing had been forgotten as they waited for the doctor to arrive. They didn't have to wait long and soon Gibbs was pushing tony out of the hospital and listening the younger man grumble about the mandatory wheelchair.

They left the chair by the hospital's exit and with Gibbs keeping a constant hand on the other man's elbow; they made their way to the parking lot. As they made their way to the older man's car, Tony stopped and stared at the vehicle. Jethro felt his lover stop and turned to look at him, confused to see that Tony had paled and was watching strangely at the car.

Suddenly it hit him and Gibbs swore silently. It seemed like a lifetime ago since the accident that left Tony fearing his driving, so much had happened since then that not only had Gibbs forgotten about it, Tony himself hadn't been thinking about it either.

"Oh shit, Tony I didn't think."

"It'ss okay Jeth," Tony swallowed hard and made his feet move to the car and with his lover's help, sat at the front passenger's seat. Gibbs knelt down before him and rubbed his arm up and down.

"We'll figure this out tony, do you think that-"

"I c-can make it. Just go s-slow please?"

Gibbs smiled through his worry and placed a kiss on Tony's lips.

"For you, I'll drive as slow and carefully as I ever have."

With that Jethro shut the door and made his way around the car and got inside, he started the car and looked at Tony.

"You okay?"

"Yea 'm fine."

Gibbs backed carefully out of his parking spot and headed for the house where he knew that Abby and the rest of the gang was waiting for them, even Bill had promised to come after Gibbs asked him to. Gibbs still didn't trust the man completely, but Tony seemed to have forgiven him so that was that.

Jethro kept a close eye on Tony the whole drive home, and every two minutes asked the other man if he was okay. Tony for his part relaxed slightly when Gibbs held the steady pace and didn't drive like a maniac, and even though he had a tight grip of the edge of his seat, there was no sign of a panic attack.

The two men got safely to their destination and once Gibbs pulled the car on the drive way, Tony gave a sigh of relief and muttered a quiet, "Home ssweet home." Gibbs smiled at that and bent over to place a kiss on Tony's temple.

Gibbs went around the car and helped Tony out of the car and they made their way inside, where the rest of the gang was waiting for them. Gibbs watched as Abby and Ducky fussed over Tony and he smiled at the scene.

Bill came to stand next to him and the two men smiled as Tony told about how he had survived another trip in the boss man's car, the significance of the statement made Abby squeal and the rest of them smile at the step towards Tony's recovery.

"How is he really doing?" Bill asked the ex-marine as tony insisted that he was fine and that everyone could stop fussing as Abby tried to cover him with a blanket.

"He's gonna be fine."

And for the first time since it all started, Gibbs was certain that Tony would be just fine. They had a long way to go still, Tony's speech would slowly improve and his hair would take a while to grow back, and even if he had managed to sit in car with Gibbs behind the wheel, his fear wasn't cured with only one trip. But they'd take it one day at a time.

Gibbs smiled as he thought that he might have to start driving more slowly and carefully for good, but he didn't really mind. He'd do it for Tony and they'd get through this like they got through everything else, together and with the help of their friends.

THE END

_**A/N:I know some of you are gonna say that it was a bit rushed, but I really didn't want to work this chapter to death and make it worse, and really i didn't want to drag this fic out, when it would just seem forced, but if even one person liked this chapter, then I'm happy. **_


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